Features / Architecture
St George’s extension opens to the public
The finishing touches were still being put to the new extension next to St George’s on Thursday night, only a few hours before concert goers were due to enter the building for the first time.
As the sound of the Bristol Ensemble permeated into the £6.3m building from their rehearsal in the auditorium next door, cases of drinks were being brought into the new cafe-bar, plants were being planted in the outside areas and carpeted floors were being hoovered.
Thursday night’s season opener at the concert hall reputed to have some of the best acoustics in the UK saw the Bristol Ensemble joining violinist Nicola Benedetti and cellist Laura van der Heijden, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan.
is needed now More than ever
The £6.3m extension has been built by Midas Group next to the former Georgian church dating back to 1823
But it was about the building as much as the music, with St George’s chief executive Suzanne Rolt expressing her delight at the new surroundings in the middle of more last-minute preparations.
“The biggest change is that we are going from being a hall that just opens in the evening to an open-all-day space,” Rolt told Bristol24/7.
“When you step inside it’s absolutely breathtaking, with a beautiful mix of old and new.”
A new walkway means easy access to the concert hall and new foyer for wheelchair users
From the new to the old, where heritage displays will be on permanent exhibition in the crypt
The cafe-bar in St George’s new foyer will eventually be open throughout the day
Rolt said: “But this is a building that has always been about community. A big challenge for us is growing that community.
“If St George’s is going to flourish, it needs this new space, and more than that it needs new people to come inside it.
Looking down into the foyer from its main staircase
A sculpture by Luke Jerram called Apollo is due to hang down into the new extension
The new building already has a collection of Bristol’s best monthly magazine
Rolt added: “We are the people that make the cities. We decide what people want from them. This is the addition we wanted to make to Bristol.
“We looked around, and we asked, ‘how do we make our city better?’
“This is something that stands out from the rest. It’s not every day you build a new space next to a historic concert hall.”
Upstairs in the glass studio, an oculus lets in a huge amount of natural light
Walkways connect the new building with the balcony in the auditorium
The pavilion-style extension was designed by award-winning architects Patel Taylor
Money was raised as part of St George’s Building a Sound Future campaign
Outside areas have been landscaped as part of the building works
Plants being taken up the restored stairs at the front of the venue
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