Quakers Friars

In 2024, Bristol’s Cabot Circus commissioned Play:Disrupt to conduct pop up engagement with the public about an area known as Quakers Friars, centred around a beautiful Grade I listed, former meeting house, and surrounded by contemporary retail and residential units and a large public square.

The initial commission was to deliver engagement for RIBA stage 2, and Play:Disrupt were then asked to return to carry out further engagement for RIBA stage 3. The project was collaborative from the start, with partners including McGregor Coxall, AHMM and other great place specialists.

Our aims were

To get public feedback on Quakers Friars Masterplan from diverse perspectives
To identify themes for interventions that could activate the space
To identify current barriers to access, use and sense of welcome within Quakers Friars

RIBA Stage 2:

To begin, we used our street pop-up with colourful street furniture, music and games to engage with over a hundred people passing through the area. Creative mapping activities provoked people to think about the place and discuss what they enjoy about it, what, if anything, stops them from coming or hanging out, and what they would like to see in the future. We encouraged them to imagine, and give examples of activities that could bring about the changes they wanted to experience.

A second round of engagement focussed in more detail on accessibility. For this, we joined forces with WECIL’s (West of England Centre for Inclusive Living) access and inclusion team and generated some specific guidelines for accessibility, not only in spatial design, but in cultural offerings and wayfinding.

Finally, we held a workshop with stakeholders including businesses already in the area, other Bristol-based businesses, local residents, and representatives from cultural and community organisations. This considered how they felt trading in the area, what their ambitions were for their own business or organisation, and how Quakers Friars could help them achieve these aims in the future.

”Working with Play Disrupt has been an invaluable partnership for us. We were able to rely on them as experts in consultation, confident in their ability to take the reins and do what was necessary without needing constant guidance or involvement from ourselves using innovative and playful techniques to encourage engagement. They also demonstrate a keen understanding of the bigger picture, identifying groups and demographics that are often overlooked. By finding innovative ways to bring these communities and organisations in, they added unexpected new value, enriching the overall impact of the project and it’s connection to the city.”

Úna Breathnach-Hifearnáin BArch PGCPP ARB RIBA CMLI

Senior Associate, Urbanism

RIBA Stage 3 and reporting:

Following this round of engagement and reporting, we were commissioned to work on the next stage, RIBA stage 3, which we delivered collaboratively with a diverse group of community creatives working as part of the Bridging Histories consultancy team. Together, we ran activities in the space, and developed ideas for inclusive development of the area.

For both stages, we compiled recommendations from these processes for the project designs going forward, and look forward to seeing how the area evolves to meet changing needs within the city centre.

Quakers Friars

RIBA Stage 2:

RIBA Stage 3 and reporting:

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