The plans were unveiled in 2023 and since then life seems to be continuing as normal for Cargo’s shipping container businesses
CARGO Hall restaurant terraces at night(Image: Umberslade)
The cargo shipping containers at popular Bristol foodie destination Wapping Wharf will remain for at least two more years, it has been confirmed. The shipping containers at the Harbourside location were only ever supposed to be a temporary destination, before being replaced by a permanent stylish development containing many more restaurants, bars and businesses.
It’s already been two years since initial plans were submitted for the work and now the developers behind the project have confirmed that it’s still a long ways off, with shipping container businesses set to remain in these structures for at least another two years.
The Cargo venue with its shipping containers full of restaurants and bars and other independent businesses, as it currently stands, has been described by the likes of food critic and MasterChef alumni Grace Dent as being a ‘true independent food destination in its own right’ and the ‘Bristol Riviera’.
Despite it really being a temporary structure, she went on to say: “To my mind, Wapping Wharf has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and no longer feels at all like one of those novelty ‘box parks’ that have about them a heavy whiff of the edgy temporary fixture.” But with that in mind, many have been wondering for some time if plans to transform the space into a more permanent destination are still going ahead.
Stuart Hatton, managing director of Wapping Wharf owners and developers, told BristolLive on Friday, October 31: “We are still keen to go ahead with the final phases of development at Wapping Wharf North, which will provide high-quality places for people to live, work and unwind, together with permanent new homes for our independent Cargo businesses.
“It’s important for us to create a fitting legacy for Wapping Wharf as well as one that truly reflects the spirit of this neighbourhood and as a major and complex project, it is taking time to work through some of the finer details of our proposals with Bristol City Council. After we receive planning consent, there will still be a lot to do, carrying out detailed designs and selecting a contractor, before we can start work on site.
“As a result, our brilliant community of independent businesses will be staying in their trademark shipping container homes at Cargo for at least the next two years.
“We’re proud to host some of Bristol’s best restaurants and bars, unique shops and well-being spots at Wapping Wharf, many of which have recently received so much international acclaim. So please keep coming down, eating, shopping and supporting the amazing business here, and join us at our Christmas party on November 27 and help make it a celebration to remember.”
BristolLive reported back in 2023 that new plans for the area included a 10-storey building and a six-storey terrace of restaurants. Owner and developer Umberslade says the most recent plans are scaled back from its original designs that sparked controversy a year prior, but still include a landmark 10-storey building alongside a six-storey terrace of restaurants overlooking the Floating Harbour.
The plans are set to include a total of 245 new homes, and a ‘Cargo Hall’ to continue and expand the venue which has become one of Bristol’s leading hotspots for independent food and drink. The owners of the bars, restaurants, cafes and produce businesses that are currently housed in shipping containers behind the M-Shed museum at Wapping Wharf have backed the scheme, and it will be built in two stages, to enable them to be moved temporarily to the car park close to Wapping Road, before returning to permanent homes within the new development.
CARGO Hall entrance oblique – Images of the proposal for Wapping Wharf North, the new CARGO development(Image: Umberslade)
Now, the tallest ‘landmark’ building will be 10 storeys high and located at the Gaol Ferry Steps road end of the development site. Next to it, where the shipping container businesses are located lining Gaol Ferry Steps, a six-storey stepped terraced building will be created, to house more of the eateries, bars and restaurants in permanent homes.
Further along Museum Street will sit Cargo Hall, an indoor food and produce market that Umberslade said they hope will become a new destination for Bristol’s foodies. Half the new homes will be built in the second phase of the development – for which only outline planning permission is being sought – which will take place after the first phase is completed, with blocks of flats between six and nine storeys further east along Museum Street.
A spokesperson for Umberslade said at the time: “The key changes include the double-height restaurant on the top of the landmark building removed, as well as restaurants from upper levels, lowering the building and giving it a more slender appearance. An open-air publicly-accessible rooftop shipping container restaurant and viewing terrace has been introduced on the sixth floor, offering expansive views across the harbourside.
“The Cargo building has been redesigned to reflect the character of the existing shipping containers, with covered walkways and external staircases. The interior of Cargo Hall has been re-designed with shipping container cladding, a brighter colour scheme and individual pods businesses can tailor to their own needs.”
Wapping Wharf and the Cargo development houses some of Bristol’s best food places, as well as other businesses overlooking the Harbour(Image: Paul Gillis/Reach Plc)
The developers’ ambition for what will be Wapping Wharf North is to “take the development of the neighbourhood we’ve created here to a whole new level and create a place where people can live, work, shop, exercise and socialise. At the same time, we want to build on the harbourside’s reputation as a leisure destination by creating something fresh and exciting that will draw people to the area, with more green public spaces for them to enjoy when they get here”.
According to the Bristol City Council’s planning portal, the plans include: “Phased mixed use development to provide up to 245 apartments and up to 10,500m2 of retail and commercial space with associated basement parking and service areas, vehicular and pedestrian access routes and landscaping works. Phase 1 to include 10 storey Cargo building with market hall below and stepped restaurant terracing attached, and 113 apartments.”
At time of writing (October 31) the status of the application, received in July 2023, is still “pending consideration” more than two years after its submission. It currently has some 146 public comments attached to the application – 117 objecting, 26 supporting, and three neutral.