A history

The decision to locate At-Bristol in the Harbourside in Bristol, a designated City of Science, was a major contributing factor to that area’s regeneration.

Canon's Marsh

The site itself, between the 12th and 17th centuries, was an area of marshy hay meadow owned by St Augustine’s Abbey (now Bristol Cathedral).

This area, formerly known as Canon’s Marsh, echoes these religious associations. The Floating Harbour in the heart of Bristol was created in 1809, and Canon’s Marsh became a centre for the busy shipping industry which thrived at that time.

Rail connections were added in 1900 and Great Western Railway used the site of Explore to house a goods shed, one of the earliest surviving reinforced concrete buildings in the UK until they became derelict following a bombing of the area during World War II and the port of Bristol moved to Avonmouth in the late 1950s.

The Leadworks building

The buildings on the site also included an original leadworks building. The Leadworks provided the base for what would become Wildwalk and the IMAX®.

Commissioned in 1884 by the Rowe Brothers, the Leadworks were used for manufacturing (glass works) and when extended in 1901, provided warehousing and storage facilities for products, including sanitary ware, rainwater goods and raw materials.

The Rowe Brothers continued to occupy the site until the early 1960s. Over time the entire site became derelict and would remain so until they were once again brought to life as At-Bristol.

The inspiration

The inspiration for At-Bristol came from two main local sources: Christopher Parsons, OBE, formerly Head of the BBC Natural History Unit, and Professor Richard Gregory, CBE, FRS.

Christopher Parsons produced the groundbreaking series Life on Earth in the 1970s.

Together with the Wildscreen Trust, he founded the Wildscreen Festival, the international event celebrating the best in natural history film making which takes place biennially in Bristol.

Wildwalk was the realisation of his dream to combine real plants and animals, with film, images and sound to highlight the true diversity of species on our planet.

Chris was also a producer of the beautiful IMAX© film, Life on Earth, and that involvement led At-Bristol to include an IMAX© as part of
At-Bristol's offering to visitors.

At-Bristol for visitors

Professor Richard Gregory, CBE, FRS, brought hands-on science to the UK, inspired by San Francisco’s pioneering Exploratorium. Richard Gregory created the Exploratory science centre in Bristol in 1987.

At-Bristol built on the philosophy of the Exploratory, and extended it through using multi-media and has provided the foundations for a whole new generation of science centres.

Whilst early development plans for At-Bristol had been underway for fifteen years, following viability studies and consultations, in 1994 the landowners of the Harbourside site, Bristol City Council, and GWE Business West (formerly the Bristol Chamber of Commerce), together with seed-funding from local companies, commissioned a master plan for the Canon’s Marsh site.

A funding bid was submitted to the Millennium Commission and, in 1996, over £40m of Lottery funding was awarded to At-Bristol. Matched funding for the £97m capital build costs came from the South West RDA (formerly the South West of England Regional Development Agency), Bristol City Council and private funding.

Competitions were launched to appoint architects, to transform the site, incorporating the derelict buildings of historic and scientific interest.

The selected architects were WilkinsonEyre (Explore building and the Planetarium); Sir Michael Hopkins and Partners (Wildwalk and the IMAX®), and Concept Planning (an equal consortium of Alec French Partnership and Ferguson Mann Architects). Style and quality pervades the site, from the finish of the materials used in the construction, to the art surrounding the site, and the accuracy of the scientific content within At-Bristol.

Led initially by Gillian Thomas as Chief Executive during the build and opening phase, under the leadership of Nicholas Hood CBE as Chairman, many people from all walks of life worked to make At-Bristol a reality.

An international team of designers, fabricators, scientists and many others collaborated to create a world class facility. We acknowledge the strong vision and leadership of subsequent Chief Executives, Professor John Durant (2001-2005) and Dr Goery Delacote (2005 – ) and Peter McIlwraith as our current Chair.

We also recognise the commitment of our Board of Trustees who have seen At-Bristol grow from an early concept to an internationally recognised centre for science education.

Sadly, in 2007, the painful decision was taken to close Wildwalk and the IMAX®. It was a decision not taken lightly but one which would secure the future of the hands-on science element of At-Bristol (then called Explore-At-Bristol).

Since 2005, At-Bristol has also been host to the Science Learning Centre South West, one of a network of nine other such centres dedicated to the Continued Professional Development of science teachers and assistants.

At-Bristol today

Throughout our 10 year history At-Bristol is proud of developing new exhibitions and supporting educational programmes for all our visitors, comprising individuals and family visitors as well as student visitors and teachers.

At-Bristol has its own team of exhibition researchers, designers and specialist fabricators and we aim to build all of our exhibits in our own on-site workshops.

Away from the public floor At-Bristol has laboratories, preparation rooms and classrooms in which we deliver a wide range of curriculum-linked workshops, debates and training – all developed by our own team of science communicators and education experts.