The restoration of one of Stokes Croft’s most historic buildings

Stokes Croft, Bristol is the cultural centre of the city; The streets lined with an eclectic mix of local businesses, street art, cultures, cuisines, and people who love their community. This year we (unit 12) have been working with The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft, a community activism group, to understand how the built environment can help preserve some of the values that this community holds. social mobility, artistic expression, and the right to be included in decisions made by governments; these are the things Croftians value and we as urbanists must protect.

The Carriage works on 37-39 Jamaica Street began its life in 1905 when the first two floors were built; since then two more stories were added and its has played host to many uses such as restaurants, offices, garages, and artist studios. This building is versatile due to its iron frame and was one of the first buildings in Bristol to use this technology. The building is grade 2 listed and sits in the Stokes Croft Conservation area.

In the building’s redevelopment I have sought to maintain the character of the building by celebrating the materials used in its original construction: timber, iron, and masonry. The staircase has been designed to echo some of these materials in the most minimal way possible. The flitch beams and iron columns used to support the building will be replaced with near identical steel and timber variants to ensure the longevity of the building without compromising the listing. When speaking to the artist that currently use the space, they expressed a desire to have a shared gallery space and another source of revenue for the building. With the ground floor a crucial part of the Jamaica street pedestrianisation, the only option was to build a new story to house the gallery. This gallery has designed to be a lightweight, modern cousin of the existing building using the same iron (steel) super structure with glass and spandrel panel certain walls.

The space is bright, open, and as 37-39 Jamaica Street is already the tallest building in the stokes croft conservation area, has unrivalled views of Bristol. When not being used by the artist studios, the space would be available to hire for all manner of events. Events will provide additional income for the cooperative and can subsidise rents for those using the studios.