Big plans for a better city life in Stokes Croft
We are inside Hamilton House, the drab Sixties office block on Stokes Croft that until a few weeks ago was a favoured destination of Bristol's street drinkers.
Now the drinkers have moved on, and scaffolding has gone up. And as Oli and James talk, it is becomes apparent that a transformation is about to take place in the former office, just a just a cider can's throw away from where the drinkers used to sit.
"This is going to be the place to come for lunch or dinner," declares 28-year-old Jamie.
"We're going to have a decked terrace at the front of the building, with plants and a glass roof."
Oli, 28, adds: "It's going to be called Canteen. There'll be seasonal, local, affordable food, live music, and a little library. We hope this will help bring life back to the Croft."
However, Oli and Jamie's plans for Hamilton House extend beyond setting up a unique eating place at the front of the building, beneath Banksy's famous Mild, Mild West mural of a teddy bear with a petrol bomb.
The pair are two of the four directors of Coexist, a company set up last year to manage what it describes as "spaces in which people can coexist with themselves, with each other, and the environment".
The featureless office block that is Hamilton House – which stretches from Stokes Croft back to City Road – might seem an unlikely setting for such an urban utopia.
The 55,000 square foot building was once called Finance House, and was populated by office workers employed by credit company Lloyds Bowmaker. The company moved out about five years ago, and until recently the area at the front of the building has been a haunt for street drinkers.
However, as Oli and James lead the way around the corridors and former offices that are currently being refurbished, it is clear a dramatic transformation is taking place.
Beyond the warren of corridors and stairwells there are art and music studios, workshops, therapy rooms, offices and meeting rooms.
The inhabitants of the studios include a puppet maker, a set designer, a screen printer, a fashion designer, a flamenco guitarist, a ceramicist, and numerous artists – including illustrator Jonathan Farr, whose intricate drawing of Stokes Croft appears on the Coexist website, and sculptor and artist Lucinda Butcher.
Among the businesses in the building are cycle repair firm Jake's Bikes, and Bristol Wireless, which builds wireless computer networks to help social improvement.
Even the open-plan offices on the fifth floor are different to how they would have been in the days when the building was Finance House, with a hot desking system whereby people can rent a desk for £10 a day, including free internet.
One area of the office is being used by Bristol-based Grofun – which aims to increase the growing of organic food in urban areas – while an adjoining space is a base for Bristol Food Hub. "We'd like to make this a centre for local food initiatives by attracting other similar companies," says Oli.
The atmosphere at Hamilton House is vibrant and creative, and it comes as no surprise to hear there is already a high demand for workspaces.
"It's all been done by word of mouth, and we're already getting a waiting list in some areas, and are very close to full capacity in others," says Jamie.
Both Jamie and Oli emphasise that their vision for Hamilton House extends beyond creating a mixed-use workspace.
Oli explains: "The whole focus is on building a sustainable community, with all the elements you would expect such as education, innovation, construction, energy, community, and food."
That vision includes the street drinkers, who are being offered support by a co-project of Coexist called Self Harmony, which offers creative courses for people who are socially excluded.
Up in the second floor bar, which looks out over the Mild Mild West mural, there is a stage and a sound system. The area can hold 350 people, and there have already been events including a 'Hicksville Hoedown', complete with banjo music and barn dancing.
There are plans for a garden area on the roof, where some of the produce for the cafe will be grown, and for solar panels and wind turbines to provide environmentally-friendly energy.
In addition, there will be a rainwater harvesting system, eco-friendly heating, and triple glazed windows.
"We want to make Hamilton House a centre of excellence in sustainability," says Jamie. "Even the old ceiling tiles being taken out are going to be reused as insulate the music studios."
Canteen is scheduled to open in about two months' time. It has been designed by leading Bristol architect George Ferguson, who was responsible for the development of The Tobacco Factory in Southville as a theatre, cafe, and mixed use workspace.
Before development began, a feasibility study took place last year. This involved numerous community groups, individuals and organisations in the Stokes Croft area, including members of the People's Republic of Stokes Croft which has transformed many of the derelict building in the area with colourful street art.
"We didn't want to assume what the community needed or wanted," says Oli, who previously worked as a construction project manager, and was among the team involved in the consultation.
The feasibility study was organised by Martin Connolly, who together with his father-in-law Eddie Callaghan runs Connolly and Callaghan, a firm which has been building and running social housing in Bristol for more than two decades, and which owns Hamilton House.
Martin, 45, also helped to establish Coexist, and seed funding has been provided by Connolly and Callaghan.
So why did he decide to embark upon this venture?
"The turning point came a couple of years ago. We were building some nice places, and I said to my construction team that we needed to be totally sustainable – not just carbon neutral, carbon negative.
"The response of one of my senior managers was that this idea was 'a bit whacky', so we parted company.
"I wanted to get a group of people around me who could see the possibilities, and now we're not just talking about it – we're doing it, and proving that it's not 'whacky' but something we all can do."
Martin talks about how Connolly and Callaghan works, and it becomes apparent that he has never fitted the stereotype of a property developer.
"We're the largest private provider of temporary and emergency accommodation in Bristol through Bristol Foundation Housing, a charity we conceived and support.
"Then we moved on to provide accommodation for people moving on who were looking for something more permanent. There were lots of landlords who wouldn't accept people on housing benefit, so we decided we'd only accept tenants on housing benefit
"I've never been able to understand why society discards people. We've built up the company just by looking after people and by treating them as people. Many of them have been from pillar to post in their lives. We looked after them and they responded to it wanted to stay with us as tenants."
Martin spent his childhood in the Fishponds area of Bristol, attending St Joseph's primary school and St Thomas More secondary school, and also lived in Easton and St Paul's.
"I was brought up in a large Catholic family of five sisters and brothers. I was lucky enough to be brought up surrounded by love, and to know a real sense of community " he says.
He recalls how he knew Finance House before Connolly and Callaghan bought it, because his wife Mary used to work there as an accountant.
"I used to pick her up from work most evenings, and there was always this worry about Stokes Croft and security. It thought it was outrageous that a gateway to Bristol was being ignored in such a way.
"Now there's a real chance to make a difference. We want Hamilton House to be a centre of excellence for community and the environment. We're a small company, but I think we can make a significant impact."
For more information about Coexist call 0117 924 9599.
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