Construction begins on South West’s largest new urban park for 50 years

Brabazon Park will feature a new lake, over 500 trees, woodland play area, waterside boardwalks and major new green-blue infrastructure.

Construction of the main phase of Brabazon Park is set to begin, marking a major milestone in the transformation of the former Filton Airfield into a new mixed-use neighbourhood for Bristol.

Designed by landscape architecture practice Grant Associates for YTL Developments – and built by YTL Construction UK - the six-hectare (15-acre) park will be the largest new urban public park created in the South West for more than 50 years. At nearly six hectares, Brabazon Park is a similar scale and slightly larger than Bristol’s Castle Park.

The start of the main construction phase marks an important new chapter in Grant Associates’ long-term involvement at Brabazon. The practice has worked with YTL Developments since 2015, helping to establish a landscape-led framework for the regeneration of the former airfield, with an interconnected network of parks, gardens, squares and streets shaping the character of the new neighbourhood.

Brabazon Park will form the green and social heart of this wider landscape. Extending approximately 450 metres from north to south, it will create a sequence of distinct landscapes and experiences, from a more wooded northern park with integrated play areas to an expansive central and southern waterside landscape.

A new lake will sit at the heart of the park, formed as a series of upper and lower water bodies connected by a weir and crossed by a new pedestrian and cycle bridge. The lake will be framed by aquatic and marginal planting and a network of paths and waterside spaces. A broad eastern promenade will provide a principal pedestrian route through the park, complemented by seating terraces overlooking the water, a slipway and boardwalk.

Water will be integral to both the character and environmental performance of the park. The lake forms part of Brabazon’s sustainable drainage strategy, receiving surface water from almost 20 hectares of surrounding development and providing 13,260m³ of stormwater attenuation. The system has been designed to accommodate a 1-in-100-year rainfall event with an additional 40% allowance for climate change. Together with extensive aquatic, marginal and wetland planting, this approach will help create a landscape better equipped to cope with increasingly extreme weather – from periods of intense rainfall to the hotter, drier conditions experienced across the UK this summer.

The northern part of the park will have a different, more naturalistic character, with paths winding through extensive tree planting and dedicated play areas set within the landscape. Across the park, spaces for play, informal recreation and gathering will sit alongside quieter places to walk, sit and experience nature.

A total of over 500 new trees will be planted across Brabazon Park. These will be combined with event lawns, wildflower edges, shrub, herbaceous and waterside planting to create a richly planted landscape with a variety of habitats and changing seasonal character.

The park has been conceived as much as social infrastructure as green and blue infrastructure. Positioned between new and existing communities, the new Bristol Brabazon railway station opening soon and the forthcoming Aviva Arena, it is intended to become a shared landscape for both the growing Brabazon community and people from across North Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Danny Nagle, Associate Director at Grant Associates, said:

“Brabazon Park has been conceived from the outset as a piece of essential green and blue infrastructure for the new neighbourhood – socially as well as environmentally. It will be a shared landscape where people can safely meet, play, exercise and spend time in nature, but it is also working hard beneath the surface, managing water, supporting biodiversity and helping make Brabazon more resilient to a changing climate.

“That is what landscape-led development should mean: not adding green space once everything else has been decided, but using landscape to shape how a place works and how people experience it.

“After more than a decade working with YTL on the wider vision for Brabazon, seeing the main park move into construction is a really significant moment for us.”

Brabazon is being developed by YTL Developments on the historic former Filton Airfield, birthplace of Concorde. Grant Associates’ wider landscape masterplan places green and public space at the heart of the emerging neighbourhood, connecting homes, workplaces and community facilities with major new transport and cultural destinations.

More than 86 acres of parks, playgrounds, landscaped gardens, sports fields and public squares are planned across the wider Brabazon development, with Brabazon Park forming its principal public landscape.

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Notes to editors

About Brabazon

Filton Airfield is steeped in history. Home to the Hurricane aircraft in WW2. Birthplace of Concorde and supersonic travel. Now it is being transformed into Brabazon, a thriving new town for Bristol and a place that changes everything.

Set across over 450 acres, this former Airfield will become the most exciting and sustainable new city district in the South West. You’ll be able to wander around independent stores, discover new restaurants or relax in leafy parks and open public squares.

Inspired by a revolutionary airplane that became an icon of engineering, YTL Developments will deliver up to 6,500 homes of every type and tenure. A range of creative workplaces will be a new home for Bristol’s next generation of pioneers, supporting up to 30,000 jobs at the heart of North Bristol’s world-leading commercial cluster. There will be new schools, community facilities, parks and public squares, while at its heart the supersonic new 20,000-capacity Aviva Arena at YTL Live will put the city on the world stage for live music and entertainment.

Over £100 million is being invested to improve local infrastructure: The brand-new Bristol Brabazon railway station, connecting Brabazon to Bristol Temple Meads in around 20 minutes, will be opened potentially as soon as Autumn 2026. A dedicated metrobus now runs straight through Brabazon, while the new town will be criss-crossed by walking routes and cycle paths. For more information, please visit www.brabazon.co.uk

National and international awards for Brabazon include ‘Best Use of Brownfield Land’ at The Planning Awards 2025, ‘Residential Development of the Year’ at the Bristol Property Awards 2025, ‘Large Housing Development of the Year’ at the Brick Awards 2024 and 'Regeneration Scheme of the Year’ at the British Home Awards 2023.

About YTL Developments

YTL Developments is a team of adventurous placemakers, creating exceptional developments where many generations can thrive. Our Pioneering Spirit unites us to enrich people’s lives by creating tomorrow’s communities. Read more information on our projects at www.ytldevelopments.co.uk

YTL Developments is part of YTL UK Group, which in turn is part of the global YTL Group. For over 70 years, YTL’s work has stood the test of time — by transforming the right opportunities into lasting value. Guided by the Group’s core values of Honesty, Hard Work, Moral Responsibility, Togetherness, and Vitality, YTL continues to grow and expand across diverse industries and nations while enriching the communities we serve.

YTL UK Group is made up of a group of distinctive companies, each with ambitious plans for the future. Our portfolio of award-winning companies based predominantly in the South West, work across various sectors, including water, engineering, property and entertainment, and business services, and share a common aim of delivering excellence. YTL UK Group includes YTL Developments, YTL Construction UK, Wessex Water, GENeco, water2business, Wessex Searches, and Turnbull. 

In addition, YTL Hotels owns some of the country’s most innovative luxury hotels such as The Gainsborough Bath Spa, Edinburgh’s The Glasshouse and Berkshire’s Monkey Island Estate.

YTL Construction UK is part of the YTL UK Group – which is made up of a group of distinctive companies, each with ambitious plans for the future. Our portfolio of award-winning companies based predominantly in the South West, work across various sectors, including water, engineering, property and entertainment, and business services, and share a common aim of delivering excellence. YTL UK Group includes YTL Developments, YTL Construction UK, Wessex Water, GENeco, water2business, Wessex Searches, and Turnbull. 

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Editors notes

Grant Associates is a pioneering international landscape architecture practice, whose work reconnects people with nature in insightful, delightful and distinctive ways whilst addressing the global challenges of urbanisation, the climate crisis and biodiversity extinction. Grant Associates’ design process is underpinned by a knowledge of human behaviour, nature and ecological science combined with innovative design technology. The practice combines original thinking, creative collaboration and regenerative design to breathe new life into our cities and landscapes.