Could Bristol Become the ‘Colour Capital’ of the UK?

Will Bristol be the Colour Capital?

Following the success of Stride Treglown’s recent publication, ’52 Big Ideas for Bristol’, the architecture and design practice is working with local photographer Jess Siggers on an initiative which could see the city celebrated as the most colourful in the UK.

Supported by Bristol City Council, the ‘Bristol Colour Capital’ idea encourages more residents to paint their homes a bright colour, ideally by making use of the Council’s Warm Up Bristol scheme, which offers grants for homeowners to install external insulation and other ways of improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

The joint initiative could bring many benefits, which, as well as the obvious ones of warmer healthier home, it could also include an increase in tourism, happier residents and reduced crime, whilst showing off the city’s reputation for fun, creativity and self-expression. The idea already has the backing of Visit Bristol who will be featuring it on their website soon.

With many amazing coloured streets to be found already (think Totterdown, Cliftonwood, Easton for example), Bristol is already halfway there! Quite why Bristol has so many colourful houses compared to other parts of the UK is not clear, but the team behind the idea are conducting research and surveys to find out.

Mareike Schmidt, Bristol City Council’s Energy Service Manager said

“We think Colour Capital is a fantastic initiative, building on Bristol’s history and reputation as a city that champions vibrant and colourful housing.”

“It’s amazing that Bristol people are always open to doing something different and by creating a movement like Colour Capital we’re also able to support people to increase the energy efficiency of their homes by partnering up with our Warm Up Bristol scheme. We’ve already helped thousands of Bristol people to create cosier homes that are cheaper to heat, so I’m really looking forward to see how we can take that further whilst giving the city’s homes a little makeover”.

Rob Delius, Head of Sustainability for Stride Treglown, commented, “Warm Up Bristol and Colour Capital – we love that two Bristol initiatives can support each other so well. It’s exciting that even though these are small changes being made by individuals, the impact is city-wide. With each household that takes part, Bristol takes another positive step towards its goal of being carbon neural by 2050 and being recognised as the most colourful city in the UK.”

If you’re a homeowner, get started today. Either check out Bristol City Council’s ‘Warm Up Bristol’ scheme and see if you are eligible for a grant to insulate and paint your home, or crack open the paint pots and paint your home a nice bright colour!

You can share images of your colourful home and streets in your area with on Instagram and Twitter (both @BristolColourUK), or find out more information at www.bristolcolourcapital.org.