Wednesday 10 February 2016

Barnstaple & North Devon Museum Gains Stage 1 Heritage Lottery Funding

Gale & Snowden Architects' involvement with Barnstaple and North Devon Museum has led to their concept design study of the Long Bridge Wing gaining Stage 1 Heritage Lottery Funding.

Gale & Snowden was selected by North Devon District Council to undertake a concept design study for a new extension to the Barnstaple and North Devon Museum: the ‘Long Bridge Wing'.

This concept design was submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund in a bid to gain Stage 1 funding, which will enable the Museum to hold public consultations and to develop the design of the extension, leading to a Stage 2 funding bid later this year. 

If the Stage 2 bid is successful, further funding would be released, and alongside ongoing fundraising efforts made by the Museum and the Barnstaple Museum Development Trust, the extension could become a reality in 2018.



The Stage 1 proposal included a double-height atrium space and would incorporate an improved café and a new Social History Gallery, designed to showcase life in North Devon over the past 100 years, displaying such artefacts as a Huxtable plough and the last Barnstaple salmon boat. The proposal also replanned the interior of the existing museum to improve visitor circulation through galleries and exhibitions.

450m2 of existing displays and collections would be improved and upgraded to contemporary standards, including the geology, natural history, archaeology and manufacturers of North Devon and Barnstaple. The increase in footprint would also allow for the redisplaying of the Shapland and Petter furniture and Brannam Art Pottery collections, which demonstrate Barnstaple’s importance as a creative manufacturing centre during the Arts and Crafts period.




In addition to the new Social History Gallery, the proposal included a high-quality temporary exhibition space, improved storage facilities, and fit-for-purpose educational and meeting facilities, all with full disabled access.


Gale & Snowden Architects' design for the proposed Long Bridge Wing extension would ensure it would be built to ultra-low energy Passivhaus standards, and incorporate low energy and Healthy Building features including:


  • Protection of artifacts from direct UV sunlight
  • Temperature and humidity controls
  • Beneficial solar heat gain
  • Super-insulated – triple glazing and high levels of insulation throughout
  • Non-thermal bridging detailing
  • Natural ventilation
  • Low energy lighting and appliances throughout
  • Healthy building design in accordance with Building Biology principles, e.g. non-VOC and non-chlorine based (non-PVC) materials, organic paints, stains and oils
  • Natural and low embodied energy materials
  • Low water-use design
  • Airtight construction
The images were shown at a public display at the Museum in the summer of 2015.


Gale & Snowden very much enjoyed working with Barnstaple and North Devon Museum during the Stage 1 process and wish the Museum all the best with their ongoing fundraising.

To take a look at more conceptual images of the scheme, visit our webpage hereAlso take a look at similar cultural and leisure projects by Gale & Snowden Architects.

Follow us on twitter for the latest updates @galeandsnowden

No comments:

Post a Comment