B Bond Warehouse () is a former

bonded warehouse A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the ...

built to serve Bristol Harbour. Built in 1908, B Bond was the second of three warehouses constructed close to Cumberland Basin to meet the demands of the tobacco import boom of the early 20th century. A Bond was built in 1905 and C Bond in 1919. All three warehouses are Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. B Bond was the first major building in Britain constructed using the reinforced concrete system pioneered by

Edmond Coignet Edmond Coignet (4 July 1856 – 1915) was a French engineer and entrepreneur. He has been instrumental in the theory of reinforced concrete. Life and Achievements Coignet was the son of industrialist François Coignet (1814-1888) and educated ...

. It was built by Cowlins Construction. The open plan structure, which is nine storeys high and has an 18-window range, was created in two equal parts separated by central spine wall. In addition to the concrete structure, the warehouse was built using black bricks, patent red bricks and blue engineering bricks, with Pennant stone steps, terracotta details and a

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...

roof. In the 1990s it was still being used for the storage of wines and spirits. The building is now owned by

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 ward ...

. The western half houses

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

(which holds the extensive archives of the city of Bristol) as well as other council offices. The brickwork of the exterior of the building was refurbished by John Perkins Construction using bricks which matched the originals. The eastern side is occupied by the CREATE Centre, which includes an energy-saving Ecohome designed by

Bruges Tozer Architects Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

. The CREATE Centre also houses several organisations working in sustainable development, including the city council's sustainability teams. In 2015 a quarter of a million books and reference materials were moved from

Bristol Central Library Bristol Central Library is a historic building on the south side of College Green, Bristol, England. It contains the main collections of Bristol's public library. Built in 1906 by Charles Holden, its design was influential in the development ...

to the B Bond Warehouse to make space for refurbishment and the development of a school at the library building.

References

External links

CREATE Centre

Bristol Archives

Gallery

Image:Bbondwarehouse2.JPG, From the New Cut Image:Bbondwarehousecreate.JPG, Create Centre including the Ecohome {{Culture in Bristol Grade II listed buildings in Bristol Art museums and galleries in Bristol Tourist attractions in Bristol Commercial buildings completed in 1908 Tobacco buildings in the United Kingdom Bristol Harbourside 1908 establishments in England