Location:
Program:
Position:
Date:
Program:
Position:
Date:
Glastonbury, UK
Masterplan, Museum
Architectural Thread
2017
Masterplan, Museum
Architectural Thread
2017
GLASTONBURY
ABBEY MUSEUM
Site
In the centre of Glastonbury's small rural town is a vast estate littered with ruins of one of the oldest monasteries in Britain. Archeological artifacts are embedded into the grounds ranging from King Arthur’s Tomb to the Glastonbury Thorn.
Brief
The Glastonbury Abbey site requires facilities for visitors, members of staff and the storage of its extensive archival material. The brief was to produce a feasibility strategy and sketch scheme for a Heritage Lottery Funding bid.
Result
Working as part of the design team at Architectural Thread; a phased masterplan was designed for the site where over seven years the main additions to the site would be a new museum and lapidarium.
The large sculptural artifacts recovered from the abbey’s ruins are presently stored within an outbuilding. The design of the museum reintroduces this historic stonework back into an architectural setting. Playing with the idea of a cabinet of curiosities the facade is transformed into a display case whereby the conserved stonework is exhibited.
The design of the museums mimics the rhythm of the ecclesiastical ruins. A structural grid was then organised around the historical entrance to the site.
The relationship of the new building with the varying topography of the site allowed us to play with scale and the nature of the display. At both ground and first floor level, between internal and external elevations, and through intimate and exposed spaces.
With one of the world's largest collection of ornate stonework such historic sentiment needed to be celebrated. The stonework became both structural elements and exhibitions. The facade acts as lapidarium and both the museum and archive store have this historic stone acting as both architectural element and exhibition.
The relationship of the new building with the varying topography of the site allowed us to play with scale and the nature of the display. At both ground and first floor level, between internal and external elevations, and through intimate and exposed spaces.
With one of the world's largest collection of ornate stonework such historic sentiment needed to be celebrated. The stonework became both structural elements and exhibitions. The facade acts as lapidarium and both the museum and archive store have this historic stone acting as both architectural element and exhibition.
