Za Za Bazaar: City’s biggest restaurant set to be knocked down and replaced with a leisure complex

Plans for a new development in Bristol’s Harbourside area could see the city’s biggest restaurant knocked down and replaced with a bigger building.

The proposals would involve demolishing the U Shed, which was built in the late 1990s and currently houses Bristol’s largest restaurant Za Za Bazaar along with BSB bar.

The building would then be replaced with a new three-storey development.

Leading the project, site owners CBRE Investment Management say the pandemic has ‘taken its toll’ on Harbourside and that its recovery presents an opportunity for ‘much-needed investment in reinvigorating this important area’.

The firm is now asking for feedback from residents before it submits a formal planning application to Bristol City Council.

The plans form one of two development proposals announced for Harbourside this week, with an application also lodged for a new office, restaurant and shopping complex further along Bordeaux Quay.

CBRE say it is working with nearby science centre We Are the Curious to create a ‘safe and attentive space’ around the U Shed which would include a new surface and office entrance to the rear of the U Shed for an ‘active frontage’ onto Anchor Square.

The plans also look to extend the block paving used adjacent to the Aquarium to Pero’s Bridge and use ground-set lighting and seating beneath the colonnade to ‘create a vibrant area to walk along at night’.

It is not clear whether Za Za Bazaar and BSB Bar will move into the new building or relocate elsewhere, although the plans details space for three new commercial or leisure units.

For more information visitwww.ushedredevelopment.co.uk/our-proposal/