The Island is a multi use arts facility and creation centre in Bristol City Centre hosting a wide variety of creative spaces from training and rehearsal rooms making spaces and artists studios to dark rooms, recording studios and an expansive public performance venue in the Fire Station section of the site.

The Island is a huge expansive project incorporating an ex-fire station, two police headquarters and a courtyard complete with fire tower. It takes up an entire city block and is in the heart of the city centre between Broadmead shopping district and the harbour side, with public access on Silver Street.

Bristol History

The Island is the culmination of 3 years research and development working in a number of challenging and unusual spaces including a car garage complex and a derelict Cathedral before taking on the sprawling Bridewell Island site in 2008.

The Invisible Circus moved to Bristol in 2005 looking for performance and production space to establish a UK headquarters for the company to expand and develop. They helped establish the ArtSpace LifeSpace project as an artist led workers co-operative in 2007 to negotiate for and take on the management of these spaces for use by the wider creative community.

The two companies work in partnership to regenerate and develop each project and support each other by sharing resources, workforce and space to present a broad variety of events and facilities.