Filwood Broadway Action Plan
COMMUNITY-LED HIGH STREET ACTION PLAN FOR SOUTH BRISTOL SUBURB, WITH ASSOCIATED SHOPFRONT IMPROVEMENTS AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS.
Architecture00 alongside local collaborators were appointed to support the Council and a volunteer Action Team in the development of a High Street Action Plan. The commission was part of the Transforming Filwood Broadway Levelling Up project and included a suite of shopfront improvement works.
View the Action Plan document here or watch the explainer video here.
PROJECT TEAM
Architect/Lead: Architecture 00
Collaborators: George Lovesmith, Studio Mothership
AR Engagement: Uninvited Guests
Contractor: Hot Soup House
PROJECT DETAILS
Location: Knowle West, Bristol
Client: Bristol City Council
Programme: November 2024 - September 2025
The Action Plan
The Filwood Broadway Action Plan was developed collectively over 13 workshops with the Action Team: a group of council officers, local organisations, residents and business owners, and informed by over 100 hours of engagement. It set out short, medium and long-term goals and actions for the high street, including boosting community pride, creating space for young people and supporting the local economy.
Taking a strategic view across the wider regeneration project, the Action Plan sets out a shared vision for a thriving high street that caters to the needs of Knowle Westers and nurtures inclusive economic and cultural growth.
“Knowle West is a community in South Bristol known for its friendliness, but with long-awaited hopes for regeneration. Decades of hard work and activism have been a foundation for a major government investment. This is a time for charting the next steps to take things forward. Watch this space for transformation!”
Ian Watt – local resident, Action Team member
GENERATIVE ENGAGEMENT
The project involved deep engagement with local businesses and community members, with many hours of conversations and repeated visits alongside local architect George Lovesmith. This was supported by a series of public-facing visioning workshops delivered with local socially-engaged artists Uninvited Guests, using their Future Places Toolkit.
Investing in the Community
High street regeneration work often prioritises beautification, tidying up and unifying the appearance of shop units as a strategy to attract new visitors to the street. This can be an effective strategy in some areas but falls short of solving the more foundational challenges that Knowle West faces. Early conversations with local people made clear that a lick of paint, while welcome, would not solve the deeper issues of economic deprivation. In light of this, we proposed to spend only half the project budget on shopfront improvement works, ringfencing £100k to be invested instead in community development. We supported the appointment of a new Community Connector, a local resident who will be based on the high street for the next 3 years to support the delivery of the Action Plan objectives and continue to strengthen networks. The remaining funds created a Community Chest funding pot to support this Action Plan objectives, delivering on a long-term ambition of local organisations to have an accessible fund for community building activities.
Boosting Local Pride
Working closely with graphic designers Studio Mothership, our shopfront improvement works focussed on celebrating the great things already happening on Filwood Broadway. The street hosts a variety of valuable community services run by active local people determined to do right by the community of Knowle West. We worked with each shop unit tenant to refresh their signage and make the street feel more loved. Responding each time to the unique identity of each business, the designs stretched a variety of styles – from a gilded gothic piercings studio to a classic ‘full-English’ café to a Jiu Jitsu Studio taking cues from BJJ belts.
Photo credit: Paul Blakemore