Latest redevelopment plans for Bristol North Baths

A grand landmark in the heart of Gloucester Road, the Grade II-listed Bristol North Baths building has a proud legacy in the city.

But the much-loved historic venue has stood empty for 13 years, amid a troubled regeneration project that was plagued with delays and finally ground to a halt in 2015, when the property was handed back to the council and eventually put up for sale on the open market last year.

New developers have now been given the green light to put the Edwardian building back into use, with plans for offices that will provide a new headquarters for a “leading Bristol business” on the first floor and more work space, break out café area and small gym on the ground level.

Bristol North Baths have been empty for 13 years. Photo by Jess Connett

Clifton-based property company Berkeley Place is in the process of buying the property from the council and has secured permission for a change of use and listed building consent.

Managing director Nick Cryer said it is still early days, but the proposals provide an exciting opportunity to bring such a fabulous building back to life.

“We will be undertaking significant enhancement work – mainly internally, since the exterior has largely been restored by the previous owners – to create unique, high quality and funky office space, primarily for a fast-growing Bristol based business who will be relocating,” he told Bristol24/7.

“At ground floor level, we plan to create equally funky managed office spaces available to rent.”

The company will be working with Gloucester Road-based architects Cryer and Coe, who have drawn up the design for the building.

The news will come as a blow to many who wanted to see the historic building retained for community use.

It follows a failed bid to turn the former swimming baths into a private health centre and physiotherapy and hydrotherapy facility, which would have been made available for public use.

Addressing this in planning documents, the developers say: “Whilst we empathise with the disappointment of the baths closing and latterly the non-completion of the health centre, these new proposals seek to bring back into use the Grade II-listed building, which has sat vacant for 13 years.

“The building will be used by local individuals or small businesses from the community and bring additional vibrancy to the already thriving Gloucester Road.”

Refurbishment of the swimming pool was supposed to form part of the Bristol North Baths Project, which saw the development of the new Bishopston Library that finally opened next door in May 2017, as well as completion of ten apartments.

Read more: Brand new Bishopston Library opens its doors

In 2015, when works on the former baths were approximately 85 per cent complete, the original developer, Chatsworth Homes, ran into financial difficulties and the troubled scheme ground to a halt.

Loxton Ink Drawings dated 1915, showing slipper baths to the north although there is no evidence these were ever constructed.  Picture taken from planning documents

Crafted from red brick and Bath stone in 1915, the baths were commandeered by the government as soon as the main pool and boiler house were completed and used to manufacture aircraft wings, which were then transported to Filton.

It finally opened as a swimming pool in 1922. For the first five or six years, the pool was unheated and was therefore open only during the summer months.

In winter, a floor was laid down and it was converted into a temporary dance hall, as well as a public cinema where audiences would have watched silent, black and white movies in the times before purpose-built cinemas became more commonplace.

In 1939, the solid wooden flooring was taken up and used as a base for the mess rooms being built for the troops stationed on Durdham Downs. As well as providing recreational facilities, the baths were part of a bigger complex that provided washing facilities during the war.

Generations of Bristol families will remember visiting the public swimming pool before its closure in 2005.

Planning permission for the new redevelopment plans was granted in December, on the condition that original, historic fixtures are maintained.

Proposals include provision for 12 car parking spaces to the rear, including one accessible, as well as three motorcycle space, secure cycle storage and additional bike racks at the front.

Read more: Affordable homes on derelict Speedwell Swimming Pool site