Aztec West is a

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typicall ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, situated in the north of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, near

Bradley Stoke Bradley Stoke is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated northeast of Bristol,OS Explorer Map, Bristol and Bath, Keynsham & Marshfield. Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). It is near the Severn Estuary of ...

and

Patchway Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bra ...

. It is close to the M4 and M5 motorways and the

Almondsbury Interchange The Almondsbury Interchange in South Gloucestershire, is one of the United Kingdom's largest motorway stack interchanges. The interchange is one of only three four-level stacks in the UK, spanning a range (including slip roads) of 1 km ...

. Adjacent is the A38 trunk road.

History

The park has been developed since the early 1980s, but some land is still available for future development. The name is said to derive from 'A to Z of Technology' and it was conceived as a science park. It was developed by the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme then sold to Arlington Securities in the mid-1980s.

Architecture

The buildings are in the

high tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

and postmodern styles and were designed by practices including Nicholas Grimshaw, Michael Aukett, SOM and

CZWG CZWG Limited is a British architecture practice established in 1975 by Nick Campbell, Roger Zogolovitch, Rex Wilkinson and Piers Gough. The practice is known for its work in the postmodern style. Projects * Aztec West, Bristol * Bankside S ...

. In 2018, selected buildings on Aztec West were

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Companies

Aztec West is home to over 100 companies, and 7,000 people work there. The Aztec Centre was opened by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

on Friday 15 December 1989 and there is a plaque to commemorate this in its entrance. The park includes warehouse/factory units, the four star Aztec Hotel, several office villages, a central retail area and a Starbucks connected to a bar in a hotel, the first such facility in the UK. Included in the landscaping are three lakes. Nearby are the aerospace industries at

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...

and the large business parks at the edge of Bradley Stoke. Companies include

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

Liverpool Victoria Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of insurance and retirement products. History The First Hundred Years The first known meeting of the Society was ...

HSS Hire HSS Hire Group plc (LSE is a supplier of tool and equipment hire in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as being a logistical and technical partner to businesses of all sizes. Operating under the banner of HSS Hire, the group has a network of ...

, EE,

Aardman Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

Imagination Technologies Imagination Technologies Limited is a British semiconductor and software design company owned by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a private equity fund based in Beijing that is ultimately owned by the Chinese government. With its global headquar ...

Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...

, Sondrel, Allianz,

Hoare Lea Hoare Lea is a UK-based, multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm, specialising in building services. The firm works with clients from the detailed design stage right through to delivery. History Hoare Lea was founded by Henry Lea in 186 ...

Atkins Atkins may refer to: Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place * ...

, The Co-operative Legal Services, CGI, Babcock, HSBC,

Handelsbanken Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Swedish bank providing banking services including traditional corporate transactions, investment banking and trading as well as consumer banking including insurance. Handelsbanken is one of the major banks in Sweden ...

Regus IWG plc, formerly Regus, is a British holding company.IWG PLC
Bloomberg. Accessed June 2021. It provide ...

Zuken is a Japanese multinational corporation, specializing in software and consulting services for end-to-end electrical and electronic engineering. Zuken came into existence as a pioneer in the development of CAD systems in Japan to contribute to ele ...

, Vaillant,

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lo ...

, SCC, SmartStream Technologies Limited and

Highways England National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all f ...

Transport

Aztec West is less than half a mile from the M5 Junction 16, and a mile from the

with the M4. It is also in close proximity to the new housing project in Cribbs Causeway. Public transport links are quite limited, although a number of bus services from the Bristol area do run on to Aztec West. The main services are: * 3X

Bristol City Centre Bristol City Centre is the commercial, cultural and business centre of Bristol, England. It is the area north of the New Cut of the River Avon, bounded by Clifton Wood and Clifton to the north-west, Kingsdown and Cotham to the north, and ...

to Aztec West via Redland and Horfield (operated by

Stagecoach West Stagecoach West is the trading name of Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company Limited, a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England. ...

) * 10

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Es ...

to Thornbury via Southmead Hospital and

Bristol Parkway Station Bristol Parkway, on the South Wales Main Line, is in the Stoke Gifford area in the northern suburbs of the Bristol conurbation. It is from London Paddington. The station was opened in 1972 by British Rail, and was the first in a new gener ...

(operated by Stagecoach West) * 73 Temple Meads Station to

Cribbs Causeway Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its out-of-town shopping and leisure facilities. The retail and leisure complex takes its name fr ...

via Bristol Parkway and Bradley Stoke (operated by

First West of England First West of EnglandCompanies House extract company no 25088
...

) * m1

Hengrove Park Hengrove is a suburb and council ward of Bristol, England, situated between Whitchurch, Knowle and Bishopsworth, running along both dual carriageways, Wells Road ( A37) and Airport Road (A4174). The area of Knowle it adjoins is known as Knowl ...

to Cribbs Causeway via Bristol City Centre,

UWE Uwe or UWE may refer to * Uwe (given name) * University of the West of England, Bristol * UML-based web engineering * University Würzburg's Experimental miniaturized satellites for space research UWE-1 and UWE-2 * Uwe - Wreck in Blankenese Blank ...

and Bradley Stoke (operated by First West of England) * T1 Bristol to Thornbury via Bradley Stoke (operated by First West of England) All buses stop at the various bus stops located around the Aztec West roundabout just outside of the business park. Currently the only bus to run around the business park loop road (Park Avenue) is the 3X, although certain journeys on service 10 also serve Park Avenue. The nearest railway station is , located about 1½ miles away. However, Bristol Parkway, which is located around 3 miles away, can be reached more easily and two bus services (10 and 73) run at frequent intervals throughout the day connecting Aztec West to the station. Bristol Airport, south of Bristol, can be reached in about 40–45 minutes by car or bus.

References

{{reflist

External links

Belles Express Timetable & Fares
South Gloucestershire District Business parks of England Postmodern architecture in the United Kingdom