A new 1000 sqm museum, bringing together the life and works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of England’s finest engineers.
The ss Great Britain Trust had a vision, to bring together the life and works of one of the 19th Century’s engineering giants for the first time.
It was especially fitting for Swindon-born Beard to deliver this exciting project, given Swindon’s long history with Brunel’s railway.
The project involved linking Brunel’s one-time drawing office with an entirely new structure, that mimicked the dockside buildings of the day, blending seamlessly into the existing area. It also incorporates a cafe, enabling visitors to enjoy a drink or light bite overlooking the harbour.
The resulting museum, which sits alongside the ss Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, provides visitors with an opportunity to see the breadth and depth of Brunel’s works in one place and has an extraordinary feature - a giant Brunel head - a fitting tribute to a man who was anything but ordinary!
Click here to visit the ss Great Britain website for more information or to book tickets.
We are very pleased with the completed building for our new museum, Being Brunel. This was a technically difficult site with tight constraints on both access and associated services. Beard overcame all of these challenges and worked very closely with the Trust to ensure that the Brunel’s ss Great Britain visitor attraction could remain open to the public throughout the works.
Winner - RICS South West Construction Awards 2019 and shorlisted for the RICS National Award 2019 in the Tourism and Leisure category.
Winner - Bristol Property Awards 2019 in the Best Civic Development category
"Highly Commended" - South West Built Environment Awards 2018 for Building Project of the Year
Winner - Heritage and Museum Awards 2019 - Best Permanent Exhibition
Winner - European Museum of the Year 2019 - "Europe's most welcoming museum"
Protection of the historic dock wall was paramount.
As the number one visitor attraction in Bristol it was essential that the visitor experience was not disrupted by the project.
The access to the strip of land on which the museum was built was not only narrow but also located within the courtyard of the attraction - visited by some 20,000 visitors each year!
Externally it complements the existing Dockyard vernacular on the South side, yet provides a striking modern building on the North side.
A system of continuous monitoring of the dock wall was instigated to ensure its protection
An in-depth analysis of visitor patterns was undertaken to enable us to avoid busy periods and minimise the impact of the construction.
In collaboration with Clarkebond we reviewed the design of the foundations, enabling us to reduce the required excavation by 50%, this meant less waste removal enabling us to reduce our carbon-footprint as well as reducing the loading on the dock wall.