A brand new community arts club is set to open in the site of a former restaurant in Totterdown.
There was shock amongst Bristol's food scene when Bristol institution Thali announced they would be closing their Totterdown site in William Street at the end of March this year, six months after an announcement that the group had been brought out of administration - in part by its own managers.
The building has lain empty ever since - however it was announced yesterday (Sunday, August 18) that the site would be brought back to life as Amba House, a creative hub and events space to serve the area.
The historic building, built in the 1860s as the King William pub, had been on the market for almost six months when artist and art teacher Georgina Dawson, who was already in touch with the building's owners, decided to take the first steps towards realising her dream of a community arts centre in the neighbourhood.
Georgina, who is now arts coordinator at Amba House, said: "The building itself had always caught my eye - it has a really unique character and I always thought it had so much potential.
"There had been quite a lot of interest in the building from prospective restaurant owners and other similar businesses, but obviously the whole industry is quite precarious at the moment and nobody had gone for it.
"I already knew the owners, and around six weeks ago I got in touch with them to explain the vision I had for the building as a creative arts space with workshops from artists and practitioners for the community.
"Thankfully it mirrored what they had hoped for the building, and after quite an intense period of discussions about how it was all going to work we just went for it. It's all come together very quickly.
"I am incredibly excited for the future. Positioned as it is, I think Amba house has great potential to be used in a really productive way by residents of Totterdown and beyond."
The venue's first event is already booked and fast approaching - a family Bollywood dance workshop at 11am this Thursday (August 22), details of which can be found here.
Hoping to create a wide-ranging programme of events and workshops, Georgina is open to all artists and practitioners to get in touch with their ideas of what they could do with the space.
"We're looking to host as many workshops and creatives as possible, and at the moment we are open to any suggestions really - we'd love anything from dance classes to sustainability workshops for children.
"So much could be done within the space, and we want it to be a really vibrant, creative hub at the heart of the community. I'm sure there are opportunities we haven't even thought of yet, but it would be great to hear about them.
"People can also hire the space for their own private event. It's a bit of a blank canvas at the moment so we can adapt it to pretty much whatever someone needs it for.
"Obviously the building has recently been used as a restaurant, so we've got a great kitchen that could be used for events or even things like pop-up restaurants.
"We haven't done too much to the inside yet - our plan is to see how it is used over time and then let the demand shape it organically.
"Environmental sustainability is really important to us - we want to reflect that not only in some of the themes of the workshops, but also the way in which we use renewable energy to power the building.
"The hope is that it will be a sustainable and financially viable venue that actually served the needs of the community."
If you have an idea for how you could use Amba House, or would like to make an enquiry about the space, get in touch with Georgina by emailing gdawson871@gmail.com.
