Being Brunel Museum

SS Great Britain, Bristol

Shortlisted for the Michelmores Property Award and the ICE South West Awards.

A new 1000 Sqm museum, bringing together the life and works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of England’s finest engineers.

Project

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.

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.

Mike Day,

Being Brunel Project Manager, SS Great Britain Trust

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.

Key Facts:

Opened in March 2018 the museum brings together personal possessions, documents and artefacts. Aiming to highlight both Brunel’s successes and failures, it is hoped that the museum will encourage budding innovators.
Cafe with indoor and outdoor seating
Brunel’s head stands 8m high
1000 sqm museum
Named in the Guardian as one of the best new museums for 2018

Fact File

£2.9 million Contract value 50 weeks Contract Duration

Architect Alex French Architects

Quantity Surveyor Chappell Chartered QS

Form of Contract JCT Standard without Quantities

Challenges

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

Mike Day, Being Brunel Project Manager, SS Great Britain Trust

Solutions

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.