Preparation work finally starts on Bristol’s long-awaited new arena

Work has finally started on Bristol’s long-awaited new arena.

Site preparation and enabling work have begun on the project that will transform the former Brabazon Hangars in Filton into a live entertainment and cultural hub.

The initial phase of the project began with decontamination of the site, carried out by Omega Environmental Services.

This will be followed by demolition of non-essential structures before starting the main construction programme, which could take two-and-a-half-years to complete.  

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YTL Construction UK, a new company that will be part of the international YTL Group, will be responsible for transforming the hangars into the 19,000-capacity YTL Arena.  

Andrew Billingham, CEO of YTL Arena Bristol, said: "We're pleased with the progress and are pushing forward, albeit slower than originally planned. Handing over the Hangars to Omega represents a pivotal milestone. 

“We have tackled challenges head-on making crucial decisions to expedite the opening while ensuring we deliver one of the premier arenas in Europe. Once main construction has started, we estimate it being a two-and-a-half-year build programme.

“It is well documented that construction companies are facing difficulties, and with the international experience the YTL Group has in construction and project management, it is a logical step for us to control the whole process through to operation.”

A YTL spokeswoman was unable to give BristolWorld a proposed opening date for the arena, which was originally planned to open in 2024.

She said: "We will be able to share our opening date once the site enabling and demolition phase of work has been completed. 

"This is a major project to repurpose a 70-year-old building, and the timescales for this first phase of work will depend on what we find inside the Hangars throughout this process."

Alongside the new arena, YTL plans to build 6,500 homes on the 380-acre site, plus commercial space, a new secondary school, two new primary schools and a park the same size as Castle Park.