Andrew, thanks for joining our City Guide Series! You’ve chosen to share your insights and knowledge of Bath with us – can you please share with us a bit more about this city?

Bath is a small city located in south west England. It is associated with hot springs, Roman baths, Georgian architecture, beautiful countryside and tourism. It is a University city with over 25,000 students within the total population of just under 900,000. It is also a creative city with many innovators, designers and entrepreneurs pushing forward advances in multiple sectors.

Recently made famous through the global Netflix phenomenon of Bridgerton, Bath has always promoted its Georgian characters from Jane Austen to Beau Nash. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein here and William and Caroline Herschel discovered Uranus using their home made telescope. Another Georgian Bath resident, Admiral Arthur Philip, became the first Governor of Australia after establishing Sydney in 1788.

Tourism has thrived on the back of this rich history and the particular qualities of the city fabric, almost entirely built from the local stone and carefully folded within the River Avon valley. It is a beautiful city.

Why did you choose Bath to explore with us?

I have chosen Bath as a perfect example of a place defined by its landscape. It is also where I have lived for over 30 years and is the main office location for Grant Associates.

The whole city is designated as a World Heritage Site based around Outstanding Universal Values that explicitly depict the unique fusion of landscape and city making.

‘Bath’s grandiose Neoclassical Palladian crescents, terraces and squares spread out over the surrounding hills and set in its green valley, are a demonstration par excellence of the integration of architecture, urban design and landscape setting, and the deliberate creation of a beautiful city.’  From 1987 UNESCO Statement of Bath’s Outstanding Universal Value.

The balance of landscape and buildings, sense of tranquillity, gentle colours, curves, softness, sense of history and human connection within the natural foundations of the place make it one of the most unique cities on the planet. A jewel of Britain, Bath is full of ingenuity and creative ambitions for the future. As the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription states…

“Inspired by its hot springs and the natural landscape setting, the story of Bath extends over six millennia from its earliest days when the hot springs were a place of worship for the Britons to the contemporary city which is an international icon of heritage and thriving Community”.  UNESCO WHS 1987

The thriving community aspect is important to me.

Where do you stay in Bath? Any particular neighbourhood or hotel?

I love the Verride Palacio Santa Catarina, with its gorgeous original wood-and-stonework and Portuguese hand-painted tiles, masterfully updated with contemporary pieces. Each of the suites tells a different story, whilst the roof terrace offers an intimate yet expansive city view. Some of the best sunsets are to be seen from the palace windows.

• Cultural Institutions

1. Roman Baths
2. Holburne Museum
3. Beckford’s Tower

Holburne Museum, Photography by Paul Riddle

• Retail Destinations

1. Mr B’s Bookshop
2. Larkhall Butchers in Widcombe
3. Green Park farmers market

• Places to eat

1. Society Café –  for coffee
2. Noyas Kitchen – an independent restaurant
3. Chaiwalla – for street food

• Nightlife Destinations

1. Bell Inn – famous for music and community
2. Theatre Royal complex – main theatre, egg (kids) theatre and studio.
3. Komedia – comedy and music

• Wellness Destinations

1. Thermae Bath Spa – notable contemporary architecture and hot springs.
2. Homewood Park – out of town country retreat
3. Cleveland Pools – 18thC open air pool currently being restored

• Things to do in Bath

1. Walking – promenade around the city centre or trek off into the surrounding landscape
2. Festivals – food, music, literature, art, fringe, walking
3. Explore independent retail, dining and culture

Finally, do you have any tips, tricks or advice when travelling to Bath?

Bath is a small compact city so most access is by walking – bring comfortable walking shoes!

Don’t just stick around in the city centre, try and walk out to the surrounding landscapes from where you get amazing views of the city e.g. Alexandra Park, the Skyline Walk, Smallcombe meadow.

If limited for time for cultural experiences visit the Abbey, Roman Baths, Assembly Rooms or Holburne Museum. Join a walking tour group; either evening comedy walk, Mayors Guides or if the right time, the Bathscape Walking festival

About Andrew Grant

Andrew is a landscape architect whose work explores the connection between people and nature. He started his company, Grant Associates in 1997 which has grown into an international design studio with offices in Bath and Singapore. His approach is based around using creative ecology to find solutions to major challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and improving human quality of life, health and wellbeing. Each of his projects responds to the place, its inherent ecology and its people and promotes quality and innovation in landscape design.

In 2012, Andrew was awarded the title of RSA Royal Designer for Industry in recognition of his pioneering global working landscape architecture such as the multi award winning Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. The 54 hectare park explores the technical boundaries of landscape and horticulture in an Asian city and won teh Building Project of the Year award at the 2012 World Architecture Festival.

Andrew is also a VIsiting Professor at the University of Sheffield, an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA and a member of the National Infrastructure Commission Design Group. Based in the city of Bath he is Chair of the Bathscape Landscape Partnership and a member of the Bath World Heritage Site Advisory Board. He is also co-founder of the pop up festival Forest of Imagination which engages the wider community of Bath in the re-imagining of city spaces and our relationship with nature in the city.