Currently, the Soapworks site consists of 165,000 square feet of existing buildings within a roughly two-acre site and is located on the edge of Bristol city center, close to Bristol Temple Meads station and between the city’s business district at Temple Quay and cultural quarter at Old Market.
First Base is proposing to transform the site into a mixed-use development that will celebrate Bristol’s industrial past and creative culture. The plans include two new buildings, alongside the sensitive restoration of the Grade II-listed Soapworks building – originally a soap factory dating back to the 1860s and, more recently, a showroom for Gardiner Haskins, one of the UK’s largest independent department stores.
Soapworks will comprise 140,000 square feet of high-quality workspace, support more than 2,000 new jobs, and create 166 new homes (with 20 percent of them listed for affordable housing). It will also deliver Bristol’s first purpose-built food hall with space for established restaurants, pop-ups, and market stalls. New pedestrian and cycle links will also be established, providing improved connections to the station and surrounding neighborhoods.
The project will deliver over £200 million of social value, which will include providing employment, apprenticeship, and training opportunities. In addition, the project will support local businesses by sharing resources and providing professional advice, work with local community organisations and charities to support people with local health and wellbeing initiatives, enhance the local environment such as improvements to local parks or allotments and promote ethical procurement policies.
“Our plans for Soapworks will reinvigorate a site that has been at the heart of Bristol’s economy for generations delivering a mix of high-quality workspace, new homes, and social spaces, helping to retain talent in the city and strengthen the Bristol economy. Regeneration is more than just buildings, and that is why in these extraordinary times, we are also focused on supporting the local community where we can with assistance and advice as appropriate,” Lucinda Mitchell, Project Director at First Base, said.
Consisting of 165,000 square feet of existing buildings within a roughly two-acre site and is located on the edge of Bristol city center, close to Bristol Temple Meads station and between the city’s business district at Temple Quay and cultural quarter at Old Market.