News / Politics
Could Houses of Parliament come to Bristol?
Plans to bring the Houses of Parliament to Bristol have been put forward for the derelict former Royal Mail sorting office behind Temple Meads station.
Passengers arriving at the station could walk off the platform and onto the grass roof of the vast complex which has been thought up by an architects firm in London.
Mayor George Ferguson has praised the scheme as “a great example of the sort of lateral thinking that is required” as central Government ponders a multi-billion pound refurbishment of the crumbling Palace of Westminster.
MPs may have to be relocated during the six-year renovation which is estimated to cost about £3.5 billion.
Architecture firm Studio Egret West are holding an exhibition starting on April 19 where they will be putting forward their option and attempting to trigger a debate about the growing economic and social disparity between London and the rest of the UK.
Bristol City Council recently purchased the former Royal Mail sorting office and are looking to renovate it as part of grand plans for the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, the biggest regeneration project in the UK.
The design for the Houses of Parliament in Bristol is a building in the form of a hill which visitors are invited to scale and look down from a viewing platform into the “speakers’ theatre”.
Studio Egret West said the debating chamber is “inspired by the idea of a clearing in the woods encourages a less combative approach to government business with opportunities for better cross party cooperation”.
Mayor Ferguson, past President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: “I love this project! Bristol is the prime UK city for Government relocation and this ‘out of the box’ idea for moving the Houses of Parliament is a great example of the sort of lateral thinking that is required.
“It is an opportunity to help reduce the staggering cost of restoring the Palace of Westminster and to take some of the economic heat out of London. Combined with rail electrification, bringing Bristol Temple Meads just 80 minutes from Paddington, and proposals to link the station with light rail to Bristol Airport and high speed rail to Birmingham and the North, it helps start a lively conversation as to how Government can further help regenerate our regional cities and national economy following our devolution deals.”
is needed now More than ever
Read more: ‘Temple Quarter will be ‘less Canary Wharf, more Kings Cross’
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