What we're doing, when it will happen, potential impact and how we're funding the works.
What the project involved and how it was funded.
Work to improve Centre Promenade in Bristol city centre, between the Neptune statue and the Cascade Steps, took place throughout 2025.
The project included:
- filling in the 3 sunken fountains that no longer worked
- painting the artwork Our Common Ground on the new surface
- building platforms over 3 sets of steps to make room for street traders
- replacing 5 trees that had outgrown their planters with blossoming trees
- repairing the damaged planters and paving
- planting flowerbeds and plants for pollinators
- resurfacing the cycle path to make it more visible
Artwork
Our Common Ground by the artist Oshii was commissioned and funded by Bristol City Council and Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District.
It was curated and produced by Bristol Legacy Foundation and realised with production support from Upfest Projects.
Costs
The total artwork budget including fees, materials and installation is £61,000. This includes £30,000 from the City Centre Business Improvement District and £31,000 from Bristol City Council.
Condition of the artwork
The paintwork of Our Common Ground has deteriorated significantly in some sections.
The paint used in the artwork is a specialist road line marking paint that is water-based and intended to be used on the ground. The same paint has been used for pavement and road surface artworks elsewhere in the city with no signs of deterioration.
We're investigating if there is a reason why some sections of the artwork are flaking more than other areas and if it has anything to do with the new tarmac surface. We're also engaging with the artwork installers and the paint supplier’s technical department to help us understand what the issue and solutions might be, such as if weather conditions played a part when it was painted.
Repairs are not possible until the spring/summer of 2026 as the paint needs to be applied in dry conditions at temperatures of 10 degrees and above.
We estimate that the maintenance costs will be between £3,000 and £5,000 a year for the next 5 years, which will be covered by the area’s annual maintenance budget.
Fountains and decking area
The 3 sunken fountains were broken and beyond repair. They have been filled in and the old wooden decking removed and the area covered with a flat surface.
The water features were installed in 2000. From the start they've been challenging and expensive to run consistently because of the limited water storage tank capacity and below ground mechanical operating system.
In 2022 they were deemed to be beyond repair and at end of life.
The fountains were the main feature of Centre Promenade. As they no longer worked and took up valuable space, we needed to redesign the area.
Some of the funding for these works is coming from savings made from not operating the fountains.
Platforms over 3 sets of steps that run alongside Broad Quay in between the tree planters have been built. These will be used for extra concessions, such as food stalls.
The new flat surface across this whole area means there's more space for events, the harbour market, and people walking, wheeling and cycling through the thriving central area.
The project did not include any changes to the Cascade Steps.
Replacing 5 trees
We removed 5 London plane trees, Platanus X hispanica, and replaced them with 5 smaller blossoming trees, Cercis siliquastrum, more suited to growing in raised planters.
We needed to do this as the large trees, planted in the year 2000, had outgrown their shallow planters and did not have enough room for their roots, which had pushed out of their planters and had damaged them.
To fix the planters we reset the coping stones and re-fitted the loose cladding. The trees needed to be removed to allow this to happen successfully.
We looked at other options, such as building larger planters or cutting back the root systems and the crown of the trees. However, as both these options did not deal with the problem of the shallow planters in the long-term, they could have led to the trees failing and becoming unstable. We could not replant the trees elsewhere as they are so large that, to remove them safely, they had to be felled in sections.
The decision to remove the five trees followed on from a statutory consultation held from 20 November to 18 December 2024.
Commitment to trees
We are committed to increasing the number of trees in Bristol with 100,000 trees planted since 2015 as part of the One Tree Per Child and Trees for Streets programmes.
Improving the cycle route through the centre
We updated the cycle path through Centre Promenade to make it more visible to reduce conflict between pedestrians and cyclists.
This included replacing the paving with a black tarmac surface. The stone blocks that were taken out are being stored and will be reused.
The section of the route that we resurfaced goes from the Cascade Steps, past the Neptune Statue, over Baldwin Street, running parallel with St Augustine's Parade and finishing at the Colston Avenue crossing.
It features 4 new crossing points for pedestrians, refreshed white lines, and large white bike symbols painted throughout. We also repainted these white lines and bike symbols further along the cycleway from the Cascade Steps to the Prince Street bus stop.
Funding
The majority of the work has been funded by Bristol City Council.
The landscape and public realm works were funded through the City Centre and High Streets programme, which is funded by Bristol City Council and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District part-funded the artwork, Our Common Ground