St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff
Essex Havard explores a redevelopment that blends old and new in a sympathetic manner, inviting visitors to explore outside and in
St Fagans National Museum of History, which is part of Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales), was established by Iorwerth Peate in 1948 and quickly became an iconic museum, close to the heart of the Welsh people. It is an open-air venue (based on the Skansen open-air museum in Sweden), housing buildings from across Wales and through the centuries. By its very nature, it is a museum that has grown slowly and organically over the decades, with reconstructed buildings scattered throughout its protected woodland environment.
For almost 50 years the gateway to this tapestry of Welsh built social heritage has been an elongated, low-slung concrete and glass building that housed the entrance hall, restaurant, toilets and galleries. So for most of its life St Fagans has been a contrast of old and new, with the new buildings giving way to the old as visitors enter the site.
Since the summer of 2012 the museum has been undergoing a transformation thanks to a £30m project that has included £11.55m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which is the largest HLF grant to a single organisation in Wales. This development is proving to be St Fagans’ biggest and will launch it into the next 50 years as a top tourist attraction in Wales. It currently attracts about 600,000 visitors a year.
Such an opportunity demanded creative and inclusive thinking. To this end the museum has engaged in partnership with external user groups to find out their expectations and desires for the new site.
Integrating old and new
Like many museums, St Fagans faced the challenge of managing a large capital project that would deliver huge benefits for future visitors, while minimising the negative impact on current visitors. The architects, builders and museum managers have done this as well as they could have hoped.
St Fagans publicly opened its new visitor services on 14 July, being careful to not mistakenly give the impression that the whole project was finished.
This phase of development resulted in the launch of the new entrance hall, restaurant, toilets, education spaces and a separate modern building that houses a cafe and hands-on craft learning centre.
On approaching the main building from the car park, I could see little that was new. It just seemed the ticket office had moved a few metres to the right. But as I moved closer it was clear that the architects had sensitively extended the building to my left, creating a larger internal space. As I entered the new admissions point, I walked into a large, almost two-storey high, enclosed main hall filled with light. This used to be an internal exposed courtyard – a white elephant for the museum as its concrete and paving slabbed surfaces made it an ankle-breaking hazard and concrete desert. To see it integrated into the building was a revelation: it has created a large flexible space for all manner of public and private events, and income-generating opportunities. This alone was worth doing.
Turning to my left I walked through the new main hall and into Y Gegin (the kitchen), which is one of the museum’s new cafe-restaurant areas. It is a pleasant, open-plan space that reaches into the new extension area. The food preparation area is also open-plan so visitors can see meals being cooked. As many external walls as possible are floor-to-ceiling glass, which not only admits light but also brings the external environment inside. It is most pleasing to be able to view the open-air museum from inside.
Events spaces
The main exit from this building to the open-air museum is also a large portico of glass and steel, which gives a wider aspect on the outside than that which it replaced. The architects have clearly, wherever possible, attempted to open out this listed building to ensure the external and internal aspects are fluid. The old building was more of a barrier through which one had to pass. This building feels like an invitation to explore inside and to step out into Wales’ history.
Also on the first floor, at the opposite end of the main hall from the entrance to the museum, is the Weston Centre for Learning, funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation. This comprises a modest reception area, with television monitors, lockers and toilets off it, and three large, well resourced, flexible learning spaces containing wheeled tables and stacking chairs. This is a huge boost to the learning service that St Fagans has delivered for decades. I’m sure the learning department staff must be thrilled.
Each of the three rooms has another, externally facing door that opens out to the museum. This will enable the spaces to be used for public events as well as organised group activities that need to be undertaken away from the public – it’s a simple but effective idea.
Two new gallery spaces complete the first-floor transformation. These are being launched at the end of the project in October 2018 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of St Fagans.
Heritage skills
On leaving the main building and entering the open-air museum, visitors turn left and eventually arrive at Y Gweithdy (the workshop). This is, perhaps, the most startling building on site as it is new and particularly angular – more Grand Designs than rural heritage. This houses a gallery (yet to be fully commissioned), a cafe and a hands-on learning space where traditional crafts will be taught. The cafe is the only operational part of this building so far, but I see huge potential for the craft skills centre.
On the other side of Offa’s Dyke, Arts Council England recently found that 87% of builders had no formal qualification in heritage building skills (houses pre-1919). I have no doubt that Wales faces a similar problem and it is learning centres such as these, set in a museum context, that are best placed to deliver change.
St Fagans’ management are to be applauded for the level of community inclusion in the planning process for this development, which will become much clearer with the opening of its new galleries in October 2018. It also managed to keep the museum open amid serious disruption caused by the major rebuild and new-builds. As much a Welsh national talisman as a museum, St Fagans is building a brighter future on Peate’s foundation.
Essex Havard is an adult learning and cultural consultant based in Cardiff
Project data
Cost £30m (for the whole project, which will be completed next year)
Main funders Welsh Government; Heritage Lottery Fund
Architects Purcell (main building), Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (workshop)
Exhibition design Event Communications
Main contractor Kier Construction (main building and workshop)
Interpretation developed by Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) in partnership with community groups and external specialists
Graphic design Design intent by Event Communications; production by Elmwood Projects
Display cases Meyvaert Glass Engineering
Installation Elmwood Projects
Lighting Event Communications
Focus on Participation
St Fagans National Museum of History is embarking on its most significant period of change since being founded in 1948. The aim is to place community participation at the core of operations – reframing the way the museum contributes to and influences civic society is central to this change.
Having consulted with more than 200 external organisations during the planning phase, we have since established participatory forums with 80 public and third-sector organisations. We have been working together to deliver more sustainable services with better outcomes for citizens. The forums have guided the redevelopment, they shape the activity programmes and help redress gaps in the collections and staff skills.
We have turned the whole redevelopment into a public programme. Last year, for example, the construction of an iron age farmstead was the focus of our volunteering programme. Guided by the museum’s historic buildings team, more than 1,000 people took part. The programme supported the skill development of unemployed people, homeless people and people recovering from substance misuse. The farmstead is now open for visitors to enjoy.
Delivering a Community Benefit Plan formed part of Kier Construction Company’s contract. Kier offered support for apprenticeship weeks; traineeships; work experience; internships; and graduate placements.
The Welsh local multiplier shows the relative impact of this contract on Wales: for every £1 spent on the construction contract at St Fagans, £1.53 has been reinvested in the Welsh economy. This is a great rate of success and something that we want to continue.
New galleries will open in autumn 2018 that will also been shaped and developed by communities across Wales. Culture is a living process and St Fagans will continually adapt and evolve. Our ambition is to create a museum that makes a difference to people’s lives.
We are looking forward to continuing to have a positive impact on local communities and businesses.
Nia Williams is the head of learning and engagement at Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales)
For almost 50 years the gateway to this tapestry of Welsh built social heritage has been an elongated, low-slung concrete and glass building that housed the entrance hall, restaurant, toilets and galleries. So for most of its life St Fagans has been a contrast of old and new, with the new buildings giving way to the old as visitors enter the site.
Since the summer of 2012 the museum has been undergoing a transformation thanks to a £30m project that has included £11.55m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which is the largest HLF grant to a single organisation in Wales. This development is proving to be St Fagans’ biggest and will launch it into the next 50 years as a top tourist attraction in Wales. It currently attracts about 600,000 visitors a year.
Such an opportunity demanded creative and inclusive thinking. To this end the museum has engaged in partnership with external user groups to find out their expectations and desires for the new site.
Integrating old and new
Like many museums, St Fagans faced the challenge of managing a large capital project that would deliver huge benefits for future visitors, while minimising the negative impact on current visitors. The architects, builders and museum managers have done this as well as they could have hoped.
St Fagans publicly opened its new visitor services on 14 July, being careful to not mistakenly give the impression that the whole project was finished.
This phase of development resulted in the launch of the new entrance hall, restaurant, toilets, education spaces and a separate modern building that houses a cafe and hands-on craft learning centre.
On approaching the main building from the car park, I could see little that was new. It just seemed the ticket office had moved a few metres to the right. But as I moved closer it was clear that the architects had sensitively extended the building to my left, creating a larger internal space. As I entered the new admissions point, I walked into a large, almost two-storey high, enclosed main hall filled with light. This used to be an internal exposed courtyard – a white elephant for the museum as its concrete and paving slabbed surfaces made it an ankle-breaking hazard and concrete desert. To see it integrated into the building was a revelation: it has created a large flexible space for all manner of public and private events, and income-generating opportunities. This alone was worth doing.
Turning to my left I walked through the new main hall and into Y Gegin (the kitchen), which is one of the museum’s new cafe-restaurant areas. It is a pleasant, open-plan space that reaches into the new extension area. The food preparation area is also open-plan so visitors can see meals being cooked. As many external walls as possible are floor-to-ceiling glass, which not only admits light but also brings the external environment inside. It is most pleasing to be able to view the open-air museum from inside.
Events spaces
The main exit from this building to the open-air museum is also a large portico of glass and steel, which gives a wider aspect on the outside than that which it replaced. The architects have clearly, wherever possible, attempted to open out this listed building to ensure the external and internal aspects are fluid. The old building was more of a barrier through which one had to pass. This building feels like an invitation to explore inside and to step out into Wales’ history.
Also on the first floor, at the opposite end of the main hall from the entrance to the museum, is the Weston Centre for Learning, funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation. This comprises a modest reception area, with television monitors, lockers and toilets off it, and three large, well resourced, flexible learning spaces containing wheeled tables and stacking chairs. This is a huge boost to the learning service that St Fagans has delivered for decades. I’m sure the learning department staff must be thrilled.
Each of the three rooms has another, externally facing door that opens out to the museum. This will enable the spaces to be used for public events as well as organised group activities that need to be undertaken away from the public – it’s a simple but effective idea.
Two new gallery spaces complete the first-floor transformation. These are being launched at the end of the project in October 2018 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of St Fagans.
Heritage skills
On leaving the main building and entering the open-air museum, visitors turn left and eventually arrive at Y Gweithdy (the workshop). This is, perhaps, the most startling building on site as it is new and particularly angular – more Grand Designs than rural heritage. This houses a gallery (yet to be fully commissioned), a cafe and a hands-on learning space where traditional crafts will be taught. The cafe is the only operational part of this building so far, but I see huge potential for the craft skills centre.
On the other side of Offa’s Dyke, Arts Council England recently found that 87% of builders had no formal qualification in heritage building skills (houses pre-1919). I have no doubt that Wales faces a similar problem and it is learning centres such as these, set in a museum context, that are best placed to deliver change.
St Fagans’ management are to be applauded for the level of community inclusion in the planning process for this development, which will become much clearer with the opening of its new galleries in October 2018. It also managed to keep the museum open amid serious disruption caused by the major rebuild and new-builds. As much a Welsh national talisman as a museum, St Fagans is building a brighter future on Peate’s foundation.
Essex Havard is an adult learning and cultural consultant based in Cardiff
Project data
Cost £30m (for the whole project, which will be completed next year)
Main funders Welsh Government; Heritage Lottery Fund
Architects Purcell (main building), Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (workshop)
Exhibition design Event Communications
Main contractor Kier Construction (main building and workshop)
Interpretation developed by Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) in partnership with community groups and external specialists
Graphic design Design intent by Event Communications; production by Elmwood Projects
Display cases Meyvaert Glass Engineering
Installation Elmwood Projects
Lighting Event Communications
Focus on Participation
St Fagans National Museum of History is embarking on its most significant period of change since being founded in 1948. The aim is to place community participation at the core of operations – reframing the way the museum contributes to and influences civic society is central to this change.
Having consulted with more than 200 external organisations during the planning phase, we have since established participatory forums with 80 public and third-sector organisations. We have been working together to deliver more sustainable services with better outcomes for citizens. The forums have guided the redevelopment, they shape the activity programmes and help redress gaps in the collections and staff skills.
We have turned the whole redevelopment into a public programme. Last year, for example, the construction of an iron age farmstead was the focus of our volunteering programme. Guided by the museum’s historic buildings team, more than 1,000 people took part. The programme supported the skill development of unemployed people, homeless people and people recovering from substance misuse. The farmstead is now open for visitors to enjoy.
Delivering a Community Benefit Plan formed part of Kier Construction Company’s contract. Kier offered support for apprenticeship weeks; traineeships; work experience; internships; and graduate placements.
The Welsh local multiplier shows the relative impact of this contract on Wales: for every £1 spent on the construction contract at St Fagans, £1.53 has been reinvested in the Welsh economy. This is a great rate of success and something that we want to continue.
New galleries will open in autumn 2018 that will also been shaped and developed by communities across Wales. Culture is a living process and St Fagans will continually adapt and evolve. Our ambition is to create a museum that makes a difference to people’s lives.
We are looking forward to continuing to have a positive impact on local communities and businesses.
Nia Williams is the head of learning and engagement at Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales)