The Architecture Centre, Bristol’s centre for design and the built environment, are working with English Heritage, Bristol City Council, local business and community stakeholders to imagine a new future for Temple Church – a historic site in central Bristol, imbuing it with life and civic value. With its ruined church structure and a graveyard converted into a public park, the site offers an opportunity not only for intertwining narratives attentive to multiple actors – human and non-human – but also for stimulating questions about the role reuse and radical retrofit can play in addressing climate change. 

​

The Temple Church has played a significant role in the history of the city. Founded and built in the 12th century by the legendary order of Knights Templar, the original round church, which shape is marked out in the ground, was replaced in the 14th century with a more spacious rectangular one. It is considered to have been the administrative centre for the Templars for south west England (Historic England, n.d.).

The church visible today with its distinctive leaning tower (1.6 metres out of the vertical), was the second largest in the city. Refitted in the 18th century, the church underwent several restorations but was badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War during the Bristol Blitz of 1940. Currently closed to the public due to safety concerns, Temple Church is in the top 20 worst condition buildings belonging to English Heritage (The Architecture Centre, n.d.; English Heritage, n.d.).