Millennium Square is a city square in the Canon's Marsh area of Bristol, England. [1] It was built in the late 1990s as part of the harbourside regeneration and We The Curious (then named @Bristol) development, and has become a popular public area and event space. [2] The square is a 55 by 40 metres (180 by 131 ft) pedestrianised space, [3] joined at its northeast corner to the smaller Anchor Square, forming part of the Brunel Mile, a sequence of traffic-free and low-traffic spaces forming a route through central Bristol. [2]
The square sits above a 2-storey underground car park and is flanked by ten ventilation towers. [4]
We The Curious, a hands-on science museum, stands to the north in a grade II listed former railway goods shed, behind a reflecting pool that runs the length of the square. The museum's planetarium – a 15-metre (50 ft) diameter sphere clad with mirrors designed to appear to float in the pool – is a prominent landmark in the northwest corner of the square. [2]
Along the east side of the square is a large water sculpture, Aquarena, designed by William Pye, [5] [6] containing fountain walls and terraced cascades, which is often used as a paddling pool on warm days. [2]
Millennium Square regularly hosts free public events, such as music and entertainment during the Bristol Harbour Festival. [7] It is home to a BBC Big Screen, [8] which was installed in 2008 and upgraded in 2020. [9] which has been used to screen sporting events, [10] and state occasions. [11]
There are several permanent statues and sculptures in the square, including:
Alongside these, the square regularly hosts temporary art installations and touring exhibitions, which have included the Bristol Whales, by Cod Steaks, in 2015, [17] and installations for Bristol Light Festival since 2020. [18]
The area now occupied by Millennium Square had been a railway yard handling cargo for Bristol Harbour, and in 1906 the Great Western Railway built a goods shed – the present We The Curious building – pioneering the use of François Hennebique's reinforced concrete system. [19] After the decline of the city docks in the mid-20th century, the derelict became a makeshift surface car park from the 1970s while the future of the site was considered. Regeneration proceeded slowly, and by the mid-1990s the only developments to have been completed were Canons House and Lloyds Amphitheatre, adjoining Millennium Square to the south, and the conversion of some of the quayside transit sheds to hospitality and cultural uses to the east. [20]
Millennium Square, alongside Anchor Square and Pero's Bridge, were part of a package of investment in the public realm and cultural facilities made in the late 1990s intended to accelerate the wider regeneration of the site, supported in part by National Lottery funding through the Millennium Commission. [20] The square was designed by Bristol-based Alex French Architects, [4] and construction completed in 1998. [2] Construction of commercial buildings facing the west side of the square followed in the mid-2000s.
In 2010, Hooters opened a restaurant facing onto the square, prompting a campaign against the chain led by Bristol Feminist Network. The branch closed two years later having lost money. [21]
Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of Broad Street in Birmingham, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves before it was purchased by the council in the 1920s for the creation of a grand civic centre scheme to include museums, council offices, cathedral and opera house. The scheme was abandoned after the arrival of World War II with only the Hall of Memory and half of the planned Baskerville House complete. After the war the scheme was revived in a simpler form however the council never managed to implement the design.
We The Curious is a science and arts centre and educational charity in Bristol, England. It features over 250 interactive exhibits over two floors, and members of the public and school groups can also engage with the Live Science Team over programming in the kitchen, studio and on live lab. We The Curious is also home of the United Kingdom's first 3D planetarium. The centre describes its aim as being "to create a culture of curiosity".
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of 70 acres. It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out permanently. A tidal by-pass was dug for 2 miles through the fields of Bedminster for the river, known as the "River Avon New Cut", "New Cut", or simply "The Cut". It is often called the Floating Harbour as the water level remains constant and it is not affected by the state of the tide on the river in the Avon Gorge, The New Cut or the natural river southeast of Temple Meads to its source.
Canon's Marsh is an inner city area of Bristol, England. Canon's Marsh occupies low-lying land on the north side of the Floating Harbour, immediately to the west of the River Frome spur of the harbour. Canon's Marsh includes Bordeaux Quay, Canon's Wharf, Hannover Quay, and Millennium Square, and is part of the area that has been branded "Harbourside".
Spike Island is an inner city and harbour area of the English port city of Bristol, adjoining the city centre. It comprises the strip of land between the Floating Harbour to the north and the tidal New Cut of the River Avon to the south, from the dock entrance to the west to Bathurst Basin in the east. The island forms part of Cabot ward. The area between the Docks and New cut to the east of Bathurst Basin is in the neighbourhoods of Redcliffe and St Philip's Marsh.
The BBC Big Screens are 25-square-metre (270 sq ft) LED screens with sound systems situated in prominent locations in city centres in the United Kingdom. The project setting up these screens involved the BBC, LOCOG, and local councils. The premise on which the screens are operated is as a platform for all, to provide local information, and to allow filmmakers and other visual artists a platform on which to display their work.
Pero's Bridge is a pedestrian bascule bridge that spans St Augustine's Reach in Bristol Harbour, Bristol, England. It links Queen Square and Millennium Square.
Millennium Square is a city square in the Civic Quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was Leeds's flagship project to mark the year 2000, and was jointly funded by Leeds City Council and the Millennium Commission. Total cost of production was £12 million.
Bristol Bridge is a bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England. The floating harbour was constructed on the original course of the River Avon, and there has been a bridge on the site since long before the harbour was created by impounding the river in 1809. The current bridge was completed in 1768 and is a Grade II listed building.
Roald Dahl Plass is a public space in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. It is named after Cardiff-born author Roald Dahl, and is located on the coast along the south of the city centre. The square is home to the Senedd building housing the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, and the Wales Millennium Centre, a performing arts centre. The bowl-like shape of the space has made it a popular amphitheatre for hosting open-air concerts.
The Bristol Harbour Festival is a free festival held annually in the English city of Bristol, which celebrates the city's maritime heritage and the importance of Bristol's docks and harbour. Most of the activities, including live music, street performances, fireworks and a variety of other live entertainments, are held on or near the waterfront of Bristol Harbour. Venues include Queen Square, Lloyds Amphitheatre, Millennium Square and Castle Park, with seagoing vessels moored nearby. The liveliest part of the festival is quayside, but the main attractions are entertainment designed to engage all the communities of Bristol, as well as entertain the thousands of visitors to the city.
Netham Lock is the point at Netham in Bristol at which boats from the River Avon, acting as part of the Kennet and Avon Canal, gain access to Bristol's Floating Harbour.
The Cumberland Basin is the main entrance to the docks of the city of Bristol, England. It separates the areas of Hotwells from the tip of Spike Island.
Bathurst Basin is a small triangular basin adjoining the main harbour of the city of Bristol, England. The basin takes its name from Charles Bathurst, who was a Bristol MP in the early 19th century.
Lawrence Holofcener was an American-British sculptor, poet, lyricist, playwright, novelist, actor and director. He held British and American dual citizenship.
The Centre is a public open space in the central area of Bristol, England, created by covering over the River Frome. The northern end of The Centre, known as Magpie Park, is skirted on its western edge by Colston Avenue; the southern end is a larger paved area bounded by St Augustine's Parade to the west, Broad Quay the east, and St Augustine's Reach to the south, and bisected by the 2016 extension of Baldwin Street. The Centre is managed by Bristol City Council.
William George Mitchell was an English sculptor, artist and designer. He is best known for his large scale concrete murals and public works of art from the 1960s and 1970s. His work is often of an abstract or stylised nature with its roots in the traditions of craft and "buildability". His use of heavily modelled surfaces created a distinctive language for his predominantly concrete and glass reinforced concrete (GRC) sculptures. After long years of neglect, many of William Mitchell's remaining works in the United Kingdom are now being recognised for their artistic merit and contemporary historic value, and have been granted protective, listed status.
Cathie Pilkington is a London-based British sculptor represented by Karsten Schubert London. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art and the Royal College of Art, and was elected as a Royal Academician in 2014. She became professor of sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in 2016.
Bayside is a residential development located on the eastern approach to Worthing town centre in West Sussex, England. Designed by Allies and Morrison, it consists of two main buildings, the tallest of which, Bayside Vista, is a 15-storey tower that reaches 52 metres (172 ft) and is the tallest building in Worthing. It replaced the Aquarena swimming pool.