History
Pre-War Broadmead
In the years before Word War II, Broadmead played second fiddle to its more successful neighbour, the Wine Street/Castle Street shopping centre.
Broadmead had become an untidy mixed development of shops and work places, with faded attractions like the Tivoli Music Hall, which had been converted into a company headquarters. It was a mix of mostly Georgian and early Victorian buildings wtih lanes and alleys of cottages opening off streets.
In contrast, the Wine Street/Castle Street area was extremely popular for shopping and boasted a thriving mix of shops, ancient streets and landmark buildings.
Post-War Construction
After the war, Bristol's leaders abandoned the ruined Wine Street area and decided to create a new shopping centre in Broadmead.
Designs were modified and compromised one by one - an early idea was to create four pedestrian piazzas with shops serviced from service roads behind.
The plan was turned inside out, the piazzas became service areas and today's Broadmead was established.
Large roads were built or widened on Broadmead's boundaries - notably the Inner Circuit Road, severely hampering any opportunities to extend Broadmead and isolating much of the area within a "concrete collar" of dual carriageways.
Today's City Centre
The Broadmead area was re-developed in the 1950's, with major department stores and a gridiron street lay-out of smaller retail outlets.
Bristol has always had a reputation for being vibrant and prosperous, but whilst we're recognised as the UK's eighth largest city, our shopping facilities rank at 23rd. Cabot Circus is going to change all that. With a vision to transform and expand Bristol's retail heart into a city centre we can all take pride in, Cabot Circus' innovative design, striking architecture and fashion-led mix of stores are set to put Bristol in the top ten on the UK's retail ladder.
The central area's breathtaking and elegant glass shell-shaped roof, creates a light, airy, open environment and is a unique feature of the lively centre. The restored Dominican friary buildings feature shops, restaurants and apartments, making the new Quakers Friars the focal point of the vibrant and cosmopolitan public square. And the state-of-the-art car park provides a direct link, via a curved pedestrian bridge, for shoppers to safely cross Bond Street without encountering a single vehicle.