Plans submitted to revitalise Bristol’s St Mary le Port
Grant Associates is part of the team working to open up a hidden part of Bristol on the edge of Castle Park - St Mary le Port - and to revitalise a key area of Bristol’s historic city centre that has been left behind for decades.
Exciting plans for St Mary le Port have now been submitted to Bristol City Council by MEPC, with the developers revealing ambitious plans to support wildlife in the city, developed in support of Bristol’s ecological emergency and aiming to give wildlife a new place to call home in the city centre.
Specific strategies have been developed to attract bats, birds, invertebrates and hedgehogs. Native plants, chosen in partnership with Friends of Castle Park and internationally renowned landscape architects Grant Associates, will help improve the Old City’s overall air quality and ensure local wildlife can easily settle in the area.
“As long-term responsible investors, protecting and improving our natural environment is essential for our plans for St Mary le Port will bring nature back by creating new spaces and places where wildlife can thrive, and the natural world can flourish.”
These ecological plans form part of MEPC’s recent planning application to rejuvenate St Mary le Port after decades of attempts to revive this key site. The proposed new development, being led by developers MEPC in partnership with landscape architects Grant Associates and Bath-based architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, will look to repair St Mary le Port Tower and its ruins, create a positive relationship with Castle Park and establish a bustling and sustainable place for shopping, work, and relaxation in the heart of Bristol. The project plans for three new office buildings, with independent retailers, cafés, restaurants, and bars at ground floor level.
Grant Associates has been appointed for the landscape and public realm design and its relationship with the surrounding city context and with Castle Park. The development will champion environmental sustainability and align with international, national, and local sustainability targets as well as achieve a demonstrable net biodiversity gain for the site.
“The project plans for St Mary le Port Tower and ruins to be restored and opened up to the public as a new city space, which will be at the heart of the development. The proposed reinstatement of the historic Mary le Port Street to create a pedestrian-only street and of historic Adam and Eve Lane and Cheese Market, will create new walking routes and connections between the historic city and Castle Park and connect with the waterfront along the Floating Harbour. Creating a really positive relationship between the development and Castle Park, people and nature, is a key objective for us. Garden terraces will be created for outdoor seating, bringing the sense of the park and urban greenery right into the heart of the space around the former St Mary le Port church ruins.”
“We’d like to thank everyone who has spent time meeting with us and providing feedback; this has been a team effort and we are delighted with the level of support from our recent public consultation. We’ll be continuing to listen to feedback through the planning process and working with officers to see this important site, that has long been neglected, revitalised.”
Read the full story here: via the Bristol Post.
(Image credit: MEPC / Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios)