Wild and Generous

Watershed Wild and Generous is a holistic vision for Watershed and the Canon’s Road area that centres notions of wildness and generosity and creates more welcoming and inclusive spaces in a key part of the city centre.  

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. By centring stewardship and equity in our approach we want to create a multi-phase project which will ensure our building is fit for purpose for the next 100 years. 

How are we going to do it? 

We have identified five strands of work within Wild and Generous; all the strands overlap and have interdependencies. When it comes to delivery, we will be taking a phased approach over the next 5-10 years, each phase of work will involve all five strands.   

Building 

To secure the future of our heritage building, we need to address current challenges around condition, comfort, accessibility and energy use, and plan adaptations to address the effects of climate change. 

We plan to do this through the retrofit of our building, integration of efficient services and a shift towards renewable energy. Critically, we will take a regenerative approach by developing an ecologically and socially responsible proposal. We will prioritise the use of bio-based materials and construction methods that support the local supply chain.  

Communities and Partnerships 

Central to Wild and Generous is our diverse network of communities and partners. We are working with our staff team, Pervasive Media Studio community, audiences, neighbours, stakeholders and wider communities to develop a holistic vision for our future.  

This will manifest as a series of study visits, participating in local venue networks, workshops, engaging advisors, consultation surveys, regular communication with our audiences and transparency around our processes and decision making. 

Nature 

The vision for Wild and Generous extends to the outside spaces around our building. Currently, our urban realm is dominated by hard surfaces and is configured for cars, not for human activity or nature. We would like to extend generosity to nature, support local biodiversity and habitat recovery, and create spaces in which nature and humans can co-thrive. We would like to forge a stronger connection with our immediate neighbour, the water. 

We will work with our partners and the communities that use our venue to reimagine the public space and frontages of our building, to make them more welcoming, inclusive to people and nature. We will collaborate with those leading the regional Nature Recovery Strategy and Toolkit.  

Heritage 

We know we will need to face head on the tensions of balancing the preservation of a heritage asset with future sustainability. We want to connect with Watershed’s past and its possible futures.  

We are working with local partners and communities to develop a heritage interpretation strategy to explore narrative reframing, storytelling and speculative futures. We will be transparent and creative in our heritage approach.  

Future Stewardship 

We are interested in stewardship, not ownership. As a registered charity and social enterprise, Watershed is values driven in everything we do. We are inclusive, transparent, responsible, kind and hopeful. Through Wild and Generous we will develop an equitable stewardship model for our building, ensuring its future for our communities in Bristol and beyond for the next 100 years. 

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