Adjacent to Cabot Circus and Quakers Friars, the new shopping district in the centre of Bristol, Castle Park has stood unchanged since the 1950s as a large urban green space in the heart of the city. The trees and vegetation planted in the 1950s and 60s have matured well and Castle Park is now enclosed by a dense wall of greenery which shields it from the city. The redesign of Castle Park corner, currently occupied by hard paving, car parking spaces and imposing steps at the foot of the park will permit the extension of the park and allow it to reconnect with the new retail quarter.
Rather than occupying the site with a standalone building, the project will extend the park via a series of sloping green roofs and ramps to create new routes and vistas into the park. The canopies thus created will accommodate cycle storage, a bike shop, Shop Mobility space as well as a new restaurant and cafe with inside and outside seating areas. A large sculptural steel cloud will hover over the new building like a floating tree crown, providing shade during the day and lighting after dawn.
