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Model employer
© The Tobacco Factory
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The tobacco industry was a major employer in Bristol at the turn of the 20th Century, and production facilities were built throughout the city, especially in the Bedminster and Ashton areas. WD and H.O. Wills were renowned for being excellent employers; the first Wills factory, built in Bristol in 1866, had dining rooms and kitchens for each department.
The factory on Raleigh Road was originally designed and built by Sir Frank Wills in 1906. Despite being simple in design, the building had an influence on the surrounding architecture. The factory's distinctive red-brick facade was subsequently mirrored by the surrounding houses. It was actually the second Wills building on the street, and the two factories were originally linked by overhead walkways.
In the 1970s the tobacco industry hit hard times, and in 1985 the factory at No 3 Raleigh Road was closed, remaining vacant until a proposal to convert the building into a theatre was accepted. The Bristol architect George Ferguson, now owner of the building, stripped the factory of its Imperial Tobacco office conversions and suspended ceilings to reveal its original structures and services.
© The Tobacco Factory
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In 2001 Bristol's Tobacco Factory theatre was born, and was an instant success with critics and audiences alike. Housed on the first floor of the factory at Raleigh Road, the theatre space is totally unconventional. The original pillars and floors still remain and have to be incorporated into performances.
The low ceiling affects the venue's acoustics, and lighting has to be carefully planned. These unique surroundings lend an original and intimate twist to familiar productions like the plays of Shakespeare.
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