bdod 2017 summary v1 - architecture centre...• the festival website also had a brand refresh and...

The Architecture CentreNarrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QARegistered charity no. 290575

www.bristoldoorsopenday.org.ukwww.architecturecentre.org.uk

PRODUCED BY

REVI

EW 2

017

4 days120 venues70,000 visits



INTRODUCTION

“BRISTOL DOORS OPEN DAYS IS ALWAYS A GREAT EVENT AND PROVIDES A FANTASTIC ONCE-A-YEAR CHANCE TO LOOK BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND BE INSPIRED BY BRISTOL’S HIDDEN TREASURES.”

Marcus Harling, Partner, Burges SalmonFestival Supporter

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2017?9 • Four day festival from 7-10 September 2017• 120 events - tours, talks and venue visits • Over 70,000 visits counted, estimated in

excess of 24,000 individual visitors• Venues opening across the city, in 29 of 35

wards • 24th year of the annual event• New programming including strands in

community outreach and schools participation, alongside a programme of walks, talks, debates and film screenings.

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ABOUT BRISTOL DOORS OPEN DAYS

Bristol Doors Open Days is a citywide celebration of Bristol’s architecture, history and culture. Visitors explore fascinating buildings, join guided tours and enjoy a range of creative events and activities - completely free of charge.

Produced by the Architecture Centre, the festival’s singular purpose is to open doors, celebrate design and engage everyone in their city’s built environment. By providing free access to over 24,000 visitors at more than 100 venues across the city, it continues in its 24th year to be the most powerful platform for engaging everyone in a better appreciation of Bristol’s buildings and places.

WHAT IS OUR AIM?

• Increase awareness of, and interest in, the built environment and the heritage of our city

• Encourage people to learn about and get involved in their city’s design

• Stimulate people to take pride in their own local places and increase a sense of ownership of the city

• Inspire informal discussions and connections between professionals and the public.

The festival forms part of the Architecture Centre’s year-round programme, Opening Doors to Heritage. A programme that highlights the value of our built heritage through talks, walks, community activity and educational programming. Supported by National Lottery players through the Heritage Lottery Fund and by Historic England, the Opening Doors to Heritage programme showcases the Architecture Centre’s belief that direct experience of a place offers the most immediate and accessible way of learning about architecture and city spaces.

The festival is also part of the national Heritage Open Days, which takes place across England every September.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2017

THEME: BODIES IN SPACEHow we experience a space dictates how we enjoy it and value it. Venues across the city embraced the 2017 theme of Bodies in Space by programming tours, talks, music and performance pieces which engaged the senses (sound, smell, taste, touch and sight) and animated their spaces.

“A GREAT SUCCESS WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF SOUND AND MUSIC TO ENGAGE THE ACOUSTICS OF THE VENUES (CHOIRS, LIVE ORGANS, LARK ASCENDING AT SHIREHAMPTON, DRUMMING AT ALL HALLOWS, BELL RINGING)" Participant9

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FESTIVALVENUESVENUES



FESTIVAL STRANDSKey strand highlights of 2017 include:

• Dusk to Dawn strand opening tall buildings to experience the city in a new ‘light’

• Film Screenings from Bristol Archives across venues including RWA

• Family programming at over half the festival venues (57/108)

• Showcasing infrastructure examplars with venues Avonmouth Asphalt Plant, Bristol Sewage Treatment Works, Bristol Waste Company and Thrive Renewables

• Extending the festival discussion and learning opportunity through new walks & talks.

BALLOON DEBATE: SAVINGS BRISTOL’S BUILDINGSLaunching the festival on 6 September, a panel of city thinkers pitched which Bristol building they wished to save and equally demolish with the proverbial wrecking ball. The 120+ audience had the final vote on how we perceive heritage preservation. The panel was chaired by City & Country Director Helen Moore and included Martin Booth (Bristol 24/7), Edson Burton (Writer), Elena Marco (UWE) and Shankari Raj Edgar (Nudge Group). Debate Sponsor – City & Country

COMMUNITY PROGRAMMEInvolving communities outside of the city centre, the Architecture Centre in 2017 organised two community hubs during the festival at Shirehampton Hall and Holy Trinity Church, Easton. The hubs hosted an array of architecture tours, interactive music and performance pieces and family activity.

“A FANTASTIC WAY TO FEEL LIKE WE REALLY ARE A PART OF OUR CITY”

OPEN DOORS FOR SCHOOLSExperiencing things first hand is the best way to learn. Widening the festival beyond the weekend, the Architecture Centre involved 4 primary schools (and 100 students) in a ‘learning outside the classroom’ programme visiting four city venues including City Hall.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND POETRY COMPETITIONInviting participants to get creative over the weekend, the photo and poetry competitions had 100+ entries and winners were exhibited in the post festival exhibition at the Architecture Centre’s harbourside gallery.

FESTIVAL AWARDSTo celebrate the effort and enthusiasm of the 2017 venues and volunteers the Architecture Centre awarded the following at an awards evening on the 15 November:

• Visitor Experience: Bristol Medical Simulation Centre

• Best New Venue: Avonmouth Asphalt Plant• Family Offer: Circomedia & Ujima Radio• Marketing & Communications: The Island• Community Award: Malago Greenway Berry

Maze• Volunteer Contribution: Judy Goldsmith

BEYOND THE WEEKENDHighlights of the year-round programme Opening Doors to Heritage include:

• Partnering with WalkFest to programme four architecture walking tours of the city in May

• Expert-led talksand walks including Structure & Serendipity, Walking Garth’s Streets, Urban Sketching and Bristol’s Life in Clay

• Exhibition in the Centre’s foyer highlighting festival success, alongside an extended showing of the Bristol Colour Capital exhibition in partnership with Stride Treglown and IGers Bristol @PorthJess.

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MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

The marketing campaign of 2017 aimed to; raise awareness of the festival’s diverse programming, to highlight new strands, and reach new target audiences of families, young people and local communities outside the city centre.

PRINTThe Architecture Centre and the festival were rebranded in 2017. Showcased in particular through the newly formatted A5 festival programme that was distributed across the city (35,000 copies), alongside high impact festival posters and flyers.

DIGITAL

• The festival website also had a brand refresh and saw significant increased traffic (38% from 2016) with 43,000 unique users from August-September

• Our enewseltter ran quarterly, monthly and weekly in the run up to the festival, with 5,300 subscribers (165% increase from 2016)

• Social media catapulted in 2017 with 3,468 twitter followers of @BristolDOD (19.5% increase from 2016) and 2,676 ‘Likes’ on Facebook (63.5% increase from 2016)

PARTNERS AND VENUES

• 82% of the 108 hosting venues profiled the programme via their company website/social media and network

• Festival partners and supporters promoted their involvement through their channels including: Visit Bristol, Business West, RIBA, University of Bristol and Heritage Open Days

“IT HELPS YOU FEEL MORE OF A PART OF THE COMMUNITY”

MEDIA AND PR OVERVIEW

Bristol Doors Open Days received extensive media coverage in 2017, including broadsheet features, specialist magazines, local and regional titles and numerous online listings.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Radio coverage including BBC Bristol, BCFM and Ujima

• TV appearances on BBC Bristol and Made in Bristol

• Regional and local print coverage including full page articles in Bristol Post, Bristol 24/7, Bristol Life, Bristol Magazine, Business News, The Metro and Bristol Times

• Local community coverage by South Bristol Voice, Up Our Street, The Pidgeon

• Successful Media Partnering with Bristol 24/7 - featured in 10+ articles, print and online, pre and post reviews, participated in the Balloon Debate and social media promos

• Family coverage in Primary Times & Bristol Mum.

KEY FEATURESMedia coverage saw a significant rise in curated features - focusing on festival themes over general listings, such as:• ‘Cabinets of Curiosity’ week-long feature

with BBC Radio Bristol curated by presenter Laura Rawlings, previewing venues and accompanied by videos on BBC Facebook

• Highlight of Architecture Centre’s work in Bristol 24/7 ‘13 things you probably didn’t know about Bristol Doors Open Days’

• Dawn to dusk programme in Bristol Life ‘Dawn Patrol’

• Spaces of sanctuary in Bristol 24/7 ‘A long-standing tradition of welcome can be seen in Bristol’s buildings’

• Balloon Debate content in Bristol 24/7 ‘Which of Bristol’s buildings would you demolish?’

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BRISTOL’S FREE FESTIVAL OF ARCHITECTURE

PRODUCED BY

SUPPORTED BY

@BristolDOD @BristolDOD @BristolDOD2017

www.bristoldoorsopenday.org.uk

JOIN US 7 - 10 SEPTEMBER 2017

VENUE: TIME:

WE AREOPENING!

BRING ON

BRISTOL’SBIGGESTBOLDESTFREE FESTIVAL

PRODUCED BY

EXPLORE THE CITY 7-10 SEPTEMBER 2017WWW.BRISTOLDOORSOPENDAY.ORG.UK



AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

Based on audience monitoring and data capture we estimate over 24,000 visitors attended the festival with an overall total of 70,000 visits taken.

AUDIENCE OVERVIEW

YOUNGER: In 2017, there was a significant increase in families, students and young people attending the festival; overall a 16% increase in attendance from 2016.

DIVERSE: Of the 5,900 postcodes collected, visitors came from every BS postcode, and more came from across the South West region than ever before. Through the spread of venues this year across nearly every ward, the festival saw a rise in visitors attending from areas of economic deprivation across Bristol - a positive 42% increase in visitors.

FAMILIES: Following wider offer for families in venues (57 venues of 108 hosting family activity) the festival saw significant increase in families attending.

VOLUNTEERS PROGRAMMEThe festival involved one MA in Heritage Management student placement, 12 core volunteers and over 1,000 venue volunteers in 2017.

To improve the quality of visitor experience and enable venue expertise, the Architecture Centre hosted a volunteer training and skills development programme including; an introduction to disability equality training, a public engagement briefing, a welcoming families session and a marketing assistance session.

“I DISCOVERED THE WEBSITE DATABASE AND HOW IT WORKS - WHICH ADDED TO MY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE OF MAKING A WEBSITE” Core Volunteer

VISITOR FEEDBACK AND PARTICIPATION

Asked to sum up the festival in one word, the top 5 words which encapsulated visitor’s experience were: interesting, enjoyable, open, history and opportunity.

75% of the audience say that the festival encourages them to learn more about architecture and history of the venues and gain new skills.

“I LOVE BEING A TOURIST DISCOVERING UNKNOWN PLACES IN MY OWN CITY”

“WE’VE LIVED IN BRISTOL ALL OUR LIVES BUT HAD NEVER VISITED THE PLACES THAT WE LOOKED AT ON SATURDAY”

RESOURCESAs part of the year-round programme the Architecture Centre developed open access resources to widen engagement opportunities, including:

• Audio recordings of talks posted online• Inclusion of new interactive map of festival

venues for easier navigation• Adding venue information and history to

Know Your Place website

“LEARNING ABOUT HOW OTHER PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT LIVE AND EXPERIENCE BRISTOL AND SEEIT THROUGH THEIR EYES”

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LOOKING AHEAD

BRISTOL DOORS OPEN DAYS 201814 - 16 SEPTEMBER

Alongside the over-arching festival objectives, the aims of 2018 are to:

• Embed a holistic understanding of the built environment by highlighting the value of engineering and public-realm placemaking

• Promote direct dialogue and understanding between professionals and the public

• To ‘mainstream’ hertitage promotion and protection

• Continue audience involvement of young people, families and diverse communities.

GET INVOLVED

VENUE REGISTRATIONInvitations to register as a venue will be sent out in January.

FESTIVAL PARTNERING AND SPONSORSHIPContribute to, and partner with, this citywide celebration of architecture and design. Bristol Doors Open Days presents a unique opportunity to showcase a commitment to, and expertise in, quality design and placemaking. Help us develop into 2018 while gaining benefits:

• *Exclusive to Partners - Seat on the expert Advisory Board to shape the programme

• Speaking opportunity at spotlight event • Advertorial page in printed A5 festival

programme (35,000 distributed citywide)• Connect with Architecture Centre audiences

and partners• Involve your staff in the festival training

programme• Speaking opportunity at spotlight event • Acknowledgement in festival communications

(70,000+ reach)

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THANK YOU

We would like to extend sincere thanks to everyone involved: our core team of a dozen hub volunteers; the participating venues and their hundreds of volunteers; the creative interpreters who brought the spaces and their stories alive; and our funders without whom the event could not take place. Thanks also to our steering group, Heritage Open Days and Bristol Festivals. We look forward to working with you in 2018.

SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS OF 2017

SUPPORTED BY

EVENT SPONSORS

EVENT SUPPORTERS

IN ASSOCIATION MEDIA PARTNER

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If you would like to get involved in Bristol Doors Open Days or for more information contact: Katie Darling, Programme Manager, [email protected]

bdod 2017 summary v1 - architecture centre...• the festival website also had a brand refresh and...

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