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Zaha Hadid Architects Bristol housing

Zaha Hadid Architects draws up plans for housing on Bristol Arena site

Property investor Legal & General has unveiled designs by Zaha Hadid Architects for a huge housing development in Bristol, England, on a site earmarked for the city's new arena.

The Zaha Hadid Architects-designed scheme would see 550 homes, a 345-room hotel, a large-capacity conference centre and two office blocks built on the two-hectare site in Bristol's centre.

The site in the centre of the city, near to Temples Meads Station, is one of two proposed locations for the Bristol Arena. Plans for a 12,000-seat arena for the site, designed by Populous, were approved in 2016 under previous mayor and former RIBA president George Ferguson.

The project has since been put on hold by the city's new mayor Marvin Rees.

A decision on whether to proceed with the Populous-designed plan, or abandon the scheme and build an arena to the north of the city, is set to be made in September.

Zaha Hadid Architects Bristol housing

According to Legal & General, its scheme "would help build a resilient city centre offer for Bristol in the face of current structural changes in retailing, culture and leisure, which demands a different offer from towns and city centres."

Visualisations of the Zaha Hadid Architects scheme for the site show a group of 10 matching blocks that decrease in height from a tower placed at the northern end of the site.

"Our design for Temple Island is derived from the existing architectural fabric of Bristol, aimed at regenerating the area around Temple Meads station," said Jim Heverin, director of Zaha Hadid Architects.

"With a particular emphasis on providing new, green public spaces, this proposal integrates a range of work, live and civic uses which will create a new vibrant quarter for the city," he continued.

"We believe Temple Island will be an exciting and sustainable addition to Bristol and its community."

Zaha Hadid Architects has also recently unveiled plans to build the tallest tower in Malta and has proposed building a pair of mixed use towers in London. It also completed a residential tower beside the High Line in New York earlier this year.