Guildford Castle and Museum Architect

Tender description

The project is to establish Guildford Castle, its grounds and Guildford Museum as a united site and attraction in the centre of the town. To achieve this we are looking to reconfigure the Museum, with the addition of a new building, to open into and utilise the adjoining Castle Gardens and Castle ruins. This will reunite the most important historic site in Guildford, containing the remains of a royal castle linked with medieval kings, including Stephen and Henry III, for over 300 years. The site was later associated with Lewis Carroll, who rented a house on the footprint of the historic castle for his sisters and who died in the house in 1898. Reconfiguring the site and adding appropriate new build will enhance the historic environment, extend museum display space and improve public facilities, incorporating a new museum entrance and exhibition space into the castle grounds and linking new areas to galleries in the existing museum. Refurbished displays will provide improved conditions for collections, use different formats and approaches to engage a range of audiences in the story of the town and borough and provide new learning spaces with the potential to expand programmes of activities and opportunities. The project will unite places with a related history, increasing access to, and understanding of, heritage assets including the castle, historic collections, castle grounds and the story of the town and borough that grew around it, producing a refreshed and enlivened museum and the major heritage hub and attraction for the borough’s community and its visitors. The creation of versatile exhibition space that enhances the visit, provides the latest in visitor experience technology and creates the demand for repeat visits, plus a new Café is essential. The design will add something extra to this historic quarter. Background Information The Council has identified that the Museum and Castle grounds are in need of development and refurbishment to enhance the historic visitor attraction to the town. The Castle achieves c 15,000 visits per anum, the Museum c13,000 visits and the Castle Grounds over 500.000 per annum; a great disparity. There are a number of reasons for this:- • The Museum entrance is in Quarry Street hidden away from the Castle and Grounds • The Castle is more visible and is signposted from the High Street • The Museum is not very user friendly with poor physical access and facilities • The displays are tired and need updating to tell new stories displaying exhibits using modern display methodologies • The central exhibition area used for temporary exhibitions is small and constrained and not able to provide the quality of exhibit to create significant public interest. The Castle and Grounds are of significant heritage value.