Hylton Castle Interpretation Fit Out Contractor

Tender description

The Hylton Castle Project is a community-led heritage project dedicated to regenerating Sunderland's Fourteenth Century Gatehouse. Sunderland City Council and Castle in the Community have joined forces to deliver this £4.5 million scheme. In addition to cleaning and conserving the surviving historic fabric and introducing a new three storey steel-framed structure inside the building, the project includes a wide range of outreach and educational work. We are working with local schools and residents to conserve and enhance the dene and castle grounds and to bring the history of the site alive. We are anticipating the physical works to the castle to be completed by December 2018. The completed facility will be operated by a trust and staffed by a combination of paid staff, volunteers and trainees. Operating year-round, the project will include meeting and function rooms that will be let on a sessional basis and will make full use of the extensive adjacent open space. The dene lends itself to a wide range of activities and interests and we will be encouraging locals and visitors alike to gain maximum benefits from all that is available. Major events such as festivals, weddings, celebrations, battle re-enactments and holiday activities for young people will take place outside of the building. The stories we will be telling inside the building include how the building was used, the people that lived and worked there and the role it and they played in Sunderland life. The majority of this story will be told from within the main circulation spaces of the building so that they can be enjoyed and understood all the time regardless of which spaces within the building are in use.