Bristol’s proposed YTL Arena has named Grimshaw Architects and Manica Architecture as the design team appointed to deliver the project.
The planned 16,000-capacity venue, which Malaysian investment firm YTL envisioned at the Brabazon hanger site, would rival a city centre arena.
Although plans for the project are still at a very early stage, YTL is committed to building an arena in the city by autumn 2022.
Grimshaw’s managing partner Keith Brewis said, according to Bristol Live: “We want to create something that’s a unique experience. The space speaks to me in two ways – on the one hand there is the physicality and the scale of it.
“We have the opportunity to bring that space back to life, and give the general public many different modes to come and see this.”
Manica Architecture recently designed the Chase Center in San Francisco, the future home of the NBA basketball franchise the Golden State Warriors, as well as the 65,000-capacity Las Vegas NFL Stadium, the future home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Last September, Bristol City Council ditched plans to develop a new arena in the city centre after Mayor Marvin Rees backed a different proposal for a mixed-use development on the Temple Island site. The council had already invested some £12m (€13.3m/$15.3m) into clearing the Temple Island site for a major arena but Rees ultimately backed a different proposal for a mixed-use development.
Andrew Billingham, managing director of YTL Arena Operations, said the larger space outside the city centre would mean “you could attract some of the biggest shows to Bristol”.
Image: YTL
