PROJECT REPORT: HERITAGE & ADAPTIVE REUSE 35
GENERATOR BUILDING BRISTOL
Generating collaboration
The team behind a sensitive restoration in Bristol speak to ADF’s Tom Boddy about how they made the most of historic Victorian infrastructure to support workspace wellbeing and collaboration on a desirable riverside site
T
he historic Grade II Listed Generator Building that once supplied electricity to Bristol’s tram system has been restored into a unique and dynamic workspace as part of a wider regeneration scheme in the city. Situated in the heart of Bristol’s
Waterfront Quarter, the six-level, 30,611 ft2 scheme on the banks of the River Avon has been designed in a collaboration between London-based interior design and architecture studio MoreySmith, and Bristol architects The Bush Consultancy. As well as providing modern flexible office space for Bristolians, a strong emphasis was placed on preserving as much of the building’s historic character as possible, while infusing the area’s nautical aspects. The interior arrangement and design are a carefully considered mix of original and contemporary features – and prioritise occupant wellbeing by focusing on natural light and views of the waterways below.
The project is part of the Finzels Reach Development, one of the largest and most significant mixed use regeneration schemes in the south west. The scheme has been in the works since the mid-2000s and has seen the emergence of waterside apartments, new and affordable homes, modern sustainable offices, a new hotel, and a leisure quarter, transforming what was once a derelict industrial area into a
ADF FEBRUARY 2023 vibrant neighbourhood.
The Generator Building is one of the most recently completed projects on the Finzels Reach site. Located on the south east corner, it is the tallest structure in the scheme – overlooking Counterslip, the main public highway through the site, and Bristol’s famous Floating Harbour. The Bush Consultancy were responsible for the external fabric, the extension, and the internal structural alterations, while MoreySmith undertook the fitout and internal design.
History & brief Built in 1899, the building housed the equipment that powered the first electric tram system in the UK. Containing four steam engines coupled with four generators, it supplied electricity to the trams until 1941 when a bomb struck the nearby bridge and severed the power lines – signalling the end of trams in Bristol. The building’s original Victorian design comprises a red brick cladding while its columns, arches, and doorways are picked out in Bath stone. The south facade has a “narrow form,” which “serves to emphasise the height of the structure,” asserts Tom Partridge, project architect for The Bush Consultancy. To the front elevation, a grand Venetian window sits over the main entrance with a row of four Ionic columns on the second level. At the top of the south
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