In March 2024, we shared our first thoughts about Watershed Wild and Generous. Since then we have been learning, reflecting and lobbying and are delighted to announce that we have been granted £115,000 Feasibility funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to begin realising this work. 

Stuart McLeod, Director, England, London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:

“We are delighted to support Watershed with this important resilience project. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this project will help progress plans to enhance a Grade II listed historic building in Bristol’s Harbourside, alongside a programme of community engagement.”

Watershed has been innovating and showcasing Bristolian creativity since 1982, but our building is no longer fit for purpose and the public spaces around us are unloved and barren.  

The most urgent priority is the retrofit and repair of our building. However, our vision is of a place-led redevelopment that balances the changing needs of our organisation with adapting to the impacts of the climate crisis. We would like a closer relationship to the water and a project that is wild and generous to both humans and nature.  

Watershed will take a regenerative design approach to the work, striving to be non-extractive, and creating a project where humans and nature can survive, thrive and co-evolve. That will be really hard (and we won’t be able to achieve it on all fronts) but by centering stewardship and equity in our approach we will be able to create a multi-phase project which will ensure our building is fit for purpose for the next 100 years.  

Illustration of Watershed Wild and Generous by Zoe Williams

This work sits alongside our climate action programme, which spans every part of our business – from thematic programming to engage our audiences to carbon literacy training for all our staff. You can read more about the work – which stretches back to 2014 - here.  

Our first step for Wild and Generous is to recruit a Director of Regenerative Futures to build the capacity and knowledge within our team. And then we will begin Phase 1.  We think the project will look something like this (though the phases will interlink): 

Priority 1: Scoping and feasibility of Repairs, Retrofit and Climate Adaptation 

• The project will begin with a condition survey to understand the current state of repair of the building, in order to create a prioritised plan of repair. 
• We will also undertake an internal audit to understand the business needs of each area of Watershed in relation to capital investment over the next 10 years. 
• We will revisit the carbon reducing retrofit survey we have already done, adding detail and cost.  
• We will seek to understand the current and future climate impacts that we are likely to experience so that we can plan the adaptations we will need.  
• We will research the permissions needed to undertake this work and lobby for the importance of environmental sustainability over heritage harm.  
• We will solidify a materials and regenerative design strategy for retrofit and repair. 

Priority 2: Scoping and feasibility of Regeneration 

• We will work with Bristol City Council, our neighbours and the communities who use and visit our venue to imagine a bold collaborative vision for our own public spaces that works in harmony with other’s plans and with local nature and sustainability strategies. 
• We will seek to improve access, adapt to the future threats of climate change in the public spaces and create more attractive frontage for our building.  
• We will centre nature and take a progressive stance on materials and labour to establish an equitable and regenerative project.  

Delivery Phase  

• Realisation of the vision and plans. 

If you have ideas, expertise or feedback that could help us realise our vision please email us on wild@watershed.co.uk. 

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK's heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.