Temple Studios, Bristol: A New Space…

The River Avon running through Temple Quarter

At the start of this month I moved offices into the new Enterprise Zone of Temple Quarter, Bristol. I have been a Bristol-based freelance Interactive Developer since 2007. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working across several of the main digital/co-working hubs in the city. My latest stint involved a couple of years at the wonderful business incubation centre of Spike Design (you can see me playing table-tennis if you flick through the pics – exciting, no? 😛 ), in the equally lovely art and design centre of Spike Island. My time here was the best I have had in a co-working space: a very talented, diverse and friendly bunch of thirty-odd freelancers and small companies under one massive roof, often working together in a bustling beautiful building surrounded by probably the nicest section of the gorgeous Bristol harbourside. The cafe isn’t bad either. If you’re looking for a desk and somewhere great to work in Bristol, you should go and check it out….. And so it was with some trepidation that I decided to move into a brand new development in the new Enterprise Zone of Bristol.

The break out area in Temple Studios

Temple Studios has been built in what was the old Post Office sorting office and bills itself as a creative and digital campus. It’s a fascinating building of brick walls, parquet flooring, with a rustic, industrial edge located right next to the entrance of Temple Meads Station. The space has been fitted out with interesting lighting solutions, comfy furniture, break out spaces, communal kitchens and a desire for the companies and tenants within it to nurture and benefit form each other’s existence in this shared space. A table tennis table may have just turned up too 🙂

The new office!

My situation within the building came about due to my old friends and colleagues Hype and Slippers taking a space within Temple Studios. They are a successful and up-and-coming digital agency populating their working habitat with a mixture of their own team members and freelancers. Having shared a co-working space previously with them in another great building, the Tobacco Factory, I was really excited to join forces again. They are an incredibly talented studio: “Creating high-quality, beautiful, well considered work across identity, print and digital design disciplines, we hand pick in-house and freelance talent on a per project basis.” – check out their work on Behance.

Alongside me in the office are some other great peeps who, in the short time I have been there, I have very much enjoyed my time with, namely:-

• Studio Chirpy is the freelance identity of Bristol-based graphic designer Max Saunders, delivering quality work through identity, print and web.
• 83 Pixels is the small but perfectly formed web design and consultancy of Shane Griffiths.
• Mitch Bartlett is a multi-disciplined designer.
• Motion Imaging aka Paul Thomas, a freelance front end web developer.
• Rosa Park is our newest member. She is the editor of Cereal: a beautifully produced quarterly food and travel magazine.

Around the rest of the building are an eclectic bunch of creative, (mainly) digital companies ranging from product designers to photographers, high-end 3D production houses to digital agencies. A couple of note, due to me being friends with them, are:-

• Atomic Smash are a digital and photographic agency.
• Red7Mobile are an mobile-app development house.

To conclude, I wanted to punctuate my new move to Temple Studios by documenting the kind of place it is and the sorts of people and companies you will find there. It’s an exciting time and the place has a really good buzz to it. It’s full of talented, creative and friendly people so if you get a chance to visit or want to join in, come and say hi. I have really high hopes for the area in general and it will be fascinating to be here and watch it as it develops. It’s one part of this fantastic city that has always felt like a bit of a let down, I don’t think this will be the case for much longer….