44
towards bringing the long-mooted project to a reality was reached in July 2009, when Southampton City Council confirmed the design team. A team of consultants was brought on board, led by architects
Wilkinson Eyre. The practice has worked on high-profile proj- ects, such as designing the basketball arena for the 2012 Olympics in London, but it also had the experience the council wanted, both locally and in museum developments. Wilkinson Eyre designed the Mary Rose Museum in neigh-
bouring Portsmouth and also the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. This experience, plus the demands of working on turning an existing grade II listed building into a landmark museum, proved crucial for the council. Focus was already working in Southampton with the council
on a revamp of the city’s Tudor House Museum and the firm was signed up again as project manager. Faithful + Gould was the cost consultant at Tudor House, but for the Sea City Museum the council plumped for Davis Langdon, with Capita Symonds providing some procurement advice. Gifford, now part of Ramboll, was recruited as consulting
structural and mechanical engineers and Urban Salon put for- ward ideas on the design of the interactive education displays in the finished building. Southampton City Council had formed the Southampton
Cultural Development Trust as a company limited by guarantee to raise funding towards the cost of the project. This was far from assured. At one stage, the council even considered selling city-owned art, including works by sculptor Auguste Rodin and painter Alfred Munnings, to fill in a £5 million shortfall in fund- ing only to back down in the face of furious local opposition to the plan. With the team of consultants on board, a far less controversial
source of funding was secured instead. The city council had managed to persuade Arts Council
England to provide £7.2 million towards an arts complex being built in the same part of Southampton. This project is part of attempts to create a cultural quarter in the heart of the city that would, if realised, also include the Sea City Museum. The coun- cil turned again to the National Lottery – and won again. In March 2010 – the city council application for £4.9 million
in funds to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) proved successful. “Southampton Sea City Museum will… remind people of [Southampton’s] important contribution to the UK’s maritime heritage,” said HLF chief executive Carole Souter. The council agreed to put in £5 million and the remaining funds will be raised by the Cultural Quarter Development Trust. The next stage was finding a contractor. The job was put out to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60