Aztec West
| Aztec West | |
| 240px | |
 Aztec West
Aztec West shown within Gloucestershire |
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| OS grid reference | ST606828 |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | South Gloucestershire |
| Ceremonial county | Gloucestershire |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS32 |
| Dialling code | 01454 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bristol North West to be Filton and Bradley Stoke from next election |
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Aztec West is a business park in South Gloucestershire, England, situated in the north of Bristol, near Bradley Stoke and Patchway. It is close to the M4 and M5 motorways and the Almondsbury Interchange. Adjacent is the A38 trunk road.
History
The park has been developed since the early 1980s, but some land is still available for future development. The work of architectural practices such as Nicholas Grimshaw, Michael Aukett, SOM and CZWG can be seen on the site.[1]
The name is said to derive from 'A to Z of Technology'[2] and it was conceived as a science park — it was originally funded by the 'Electricity Supply Nominees' on the half of the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) pension fund but in the mid-1980s was sold to Arlington Securities.[3]
Companies
Aztec West is home to over 100 companies, and 7,000 people work there. The Aztec Centre was opened by Margaret Thatcher on Friday 15 December 1989 and there is a plaque to commemorate this in its entrance.[4] The park includes warehouse/factory units, the four star Aztec Hotel, several office villages, a central retail area and a Starbucks connected to a bar in a hotel, the first such facility in the UK.[5] Included in the landscaping are three lakes. Nearby are the aerospace industries at Filton and the large business parks at the edge of Bradley Stoke.
Companies include Nokia, General Electric, Liverpool Victoria, HSS Hire, EE, HSBC, Atkins, Aardman, Imagination Technologies, Broadcom, Mark Hadfield Selection Ltd, Allianz, Hoare Lea, The Co-operative Legal Services and CGI.
Transport
Aztec West is less than half a mile from the M5 Junction 16, and a mile from the Almondsbury Interchange with the M4. It is also in close proximity to the new housing project in Cribbs Causeway.
Public transport links are quite limited, although a number of bus services from the Bristol area do run on to Aztec West. The main services are the '3' series of routes operated by Wessex (3A, 3B, 3C, 3X), which run around the business park loop road (Park Avenue), providing direct connections at peak times between the business park and Bristol City Centre (3A / 3C / 3X), Bristol Parkway (3B), Redland (3C / 3X) and Clifton Village (3C). The routes to/from Bristol City Centre use either the A38 Gloucester Road or Filton Avenue corridors. The X18 (operated by First Bristol) also runs around the business park loop and provides direct connections between Aztec West and MoD Abbey Wood, UWE, Emersons Green and Kingswood, following a route along the A4174 Avon Ring Road.
Service 73, operated by First Bristol, passes close by but does not enter the business park, providing frequent connections throughout the day from the A38 directly outside to Patchway, Cribbs Causeway Bus Station and Bradley Stoke, Bristol Parkway railway station, MoD Abbey Wood, Gloucester Road and Bristol City Centre. The 73 takes a more indirect route than other services to Bristol City Centre, however it runs much more frequently. Service X73 runs as an express route after Bristol Parkway railway station on the M32 to Bristol City Centre, although the timetable for this service is designed primarily for commuters travelling to Bristol City Centre.[6]
Other routes serving the business park entrance include: 309/310 north to Thornbury and south to Bristol Bus Station (operated by First); 312 north to Thornbury and south to Bristol Parkway / UWE (operated by Severnside Transport Ltd); 483 to Yate and Chipping Sodbury (operated by Wessex).
Commuter coach services, operated by The Kings Ferry, provide a number of peak period journeys to the business park from the North Somerset towns of Portishead, Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare. Stagecoach West also provides a peak-time commuter coach service, using the name "Belles Express", between Gloucester (City Centre & Quedgeley) and Aztec West.
The business park has no direct rail links. The nearest railway station is at Patchway about a mile and a half away. The mainline station, Bristol Parkway, is about three miles away. A direct bus service (3B), operated by Wessex, connects Bristol Parkway to Aztec West throughout the day. This bus service runs around the loop road (Park Avenue).
In 2001 Aztec West was selected as the northern terminus for the proposed Bristol Supertram project, which was planned to operate as a 30-minute service between the park and Bristol City Centre. The project was cancelled in 2004.
Bristol Airport, south of Bristol, can be reached in about 40–45 minutes by car or bus.
References
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