New Bridewell Police Station
June 2014
New Bridewell opened in 1967 as an extension to the existing Bridewell police station that was built in 1928. Bridewell closed in 2005 and as such New Bridewell became the main divisional police station for the Avon and Somerset constabulary in the centre of Bristol. It stayed this way until March 2012 when they moved into the newly built police station across the road aptly named 'The Bridewell'.
The building was then used by more than 80 small businesses as well as creative projects. Tenants included artists, surfboard makers, photographers, graphic designers and a fashion brand. The art space became known as Bridewell Space which housed SAE Space, a not-for-profit arm of Meanwhile Creative dedicated to incubating new businesses, particularly in the social and environmental sectors. In April 2014 all tenants were told to leave as the building had been sold and plans approved for it destruction and immediate construction of a 15 storey, 499 bed, student housing block. |