Bristol Harbourside was a Millennium landmark project. Balston & Company was the landscape consultant to the Concept Planning Group, a consortium of three local architects, Ferguson Mann, The Alec French Partnership and Bruges Tozer. They located all the new buildings and designed the urban spatial context.
The scheme was designed to accommodate a number of urban activities, and to form a focal area in a very rundown part of central Bristol embraced by the Floating Harbour.
A public art works programme formed a major part of the commission. Eight major works within the squares and spaces included ‘Zenith’, a light sculpture by David Ward, and ‘Aquarina’, a water terrace sculpture by William Pye.
It is considered to be a considerable success in terms of urban regeneration and landscape planning, and was winner of the Civic Trust National Award for Urban Design and the RTPI Award for Planning in the Public Realm.
