Avon House, Bristol

The former Avon House, now the Bristol City Centre (Haymarket) Hotel, is an 18-storey building, one of the tallest structures in central Bristol, England.

Avon House
Seen from St James Place
Shown within Bristol
General information
StatusComplete
Architectural styleinternational style
AddressSt. James Barton
Town or cityBristol
CountryUK
Coordinates51.459°N 2.592°W / 51.459; -2.592
Construction started1969[1]
Completed1972[1]
Renovated2004[1]
Height60 m (200 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count18[1]

History

The building formed part of an initiative in the 1960s by Bristol City Council to redevelop the St. James Barton area which had been badly damaged by bombing during the Bristol Blitz of the Second World War and had remained semi derelict since the end of the war.[2][3]

Planning permission was given for a tall building in the international style in 1967 and the construction work took place between 1969 and 1972.[2] The design involved an 18-storey building (a two-storey podium with shops, a church hall and a public house together with a 16-storey tower), which was 60 metres (200 ft) high, on the corner of Marlborough Street and the Haymarket at the Bearpit Roundabout; the original access was through a doorway on the ground floor of the Haymarket elevation:[4] the tower was 16 bays across on the Haymarket elevation and five bays across on the Bearpit Roundabout elevation.[5] The visual impact of the scheme was criticised by English Heritage who said that "it was bulk rather than height that damaged the skyline."[6]

Avon House was built speculatively[7] but was occupied by the former Avon County Council when it was formed in April 1974.[1] In 1987, when the television presenter, Caron Keating, visited Bristol to launch the Christmas carnival procession, she joined three dwarves in abseiling down the face of Avon House, as part of a fund raising initiative in support of the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.[8]

After Avon County Council was abolished in 1996 the building was used as workspace by Bristol City Council staff for a few years before it became redundant.[9] It was converted into a hotel in 1999 and was subsequently rebranded as a Premier Inn.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. "Avon House". Skyscrapernews.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  2. "The construction of the Bearpit". Bearpit Heritage. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. "What should happen to the Bearpit? 17 facts about our favourite hole in the floor". Bristol Post. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. "Transportation study for Weston-super-Mare area: joint report of County Engineer and Surveyor, and County Planning Office". Avon County Council Planning and Highways Committee. 1979. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  5. "Premier Inn Bristol City Centre". Emporis. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  6. Harwood, Elain; Barson, Susie; Cole, Emily (22 October 2001). "Tall Buildings: Aspects of their Development and Character in England". English Heritage. p. 44. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  7. Foyle, Andrew; Cherry, Bridget (2004). Bristol - The Buildings of England. Yale University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0300104424.
  8. "Bristol Carnival: 1987". BBC. 4 November 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. Shorney, Jonathan (3 July 1997). "Homely new life for old council's eyesore offices". Western Daily Press. Bristol United Press. p. 10. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  10. Staff (13 October 1999). "Tower block's new role". Bristol Evening Post, archived at LexisNexis. Bristol United Press. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  11. "Bristol City Centre (Haymarket) Hotel". premierinn.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
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