BIG PIT MINING MUSEUM
Blaenafon
Client: National Museums & Galleries of Wales
In 2000 TACP was commissioned as Conservation Architects for the £3.8 million restoration and refurbishment of the grade 1 listed Big Pit Mining Museum in Blaenafon. Blaenafon has achieved world heritage status and is a UNESCO Heritage Site.
Implementation work on the museum began in February 2002, and the commission has involved detailed conservation and repair of the existing fabric of eighteen buildings, with the integration of four new buildings into the museum complex.
The project has involved the forging of close working relationships within the project team: the client - National Museums & Galleries of Wales, project managers, cost consultants, planning supervisors, three architectural practices, mechanical and electrical consultants, structural engineers and interpretation designers.
A new Operation / Resource Building and Conservation Store / Workshop have been built to facilitate the management of the pit and its artefacts. Both are designed to reflect the contemporary idiom as distinct from the historic past. The new Workshop will improve the museum’s conservation and archiving facilities, providing visitors with the chance to see conservation work in progress. Along with the special environmental condition stores on the first floor, the Conservation Workshop also houses the back-up winder that is ready for use in the unlikely event of an emergency.
The museum was awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for best UK museum in 2005.
