| The Tank Museum has appointed Norwest Holst to design and build a new 5000sqm display hall in a contract worth £10 million.
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The new display hall is a key element of The Tank Museum’s £16m Heritage Lottery Fund sponsored redevelopment project, entitled At Close Quarters. The project will also see Norwest Holst rebuilding and significantly improving the Tank Museum Arena, and other external facilities.
Director Richard Smith said; "This is an important milestone for the Museum as it means that building work on our New Display Hall will now begin. It will provide a world class home for our world class collection of tanks. We are delighted to be working with Norwest Holst, and are looking forward to opening the new building to the public in 2009."
Norwest Holst has had a regional office in the south for over thirty years and has operated from its current office in Winchester since 1991. Commenting on the award of the project, Regional Director, Andrew Nicholson, said: "Norwest Holst has a proven track record in the successful delivery of public and leisure facilities of all kinds, including the award winning Ondaatje Wing of the National Portrait Gallery in London and the RAF Museum in Hendon. The experience and expertise gained through the delivery of these and other similar projects throughout the country will be reflected in the capability that Norwest Holst's Winchester office brings to the delivery of the Tank Museum's new display hall."
Chris Davis, of Drivers Jonas who are the At Close Quarters Project Managers said; "We have been working with the Tank Museum since 199*, and are delighted to see so much hard work finally come to fruition."
The display hall has been designed as a quarter circle which fits between the existing buildings and the curve of the road forming part of the site boundary. The architecture of the display hall is minimalist and functional, featuring a radial saw tooth roof to provide natural daylight. It will be heated by overhead radiant panels and ventilated by displacement from below the slab. A control tower will provide the point of control and monitor safety for activities involving tanks in the external Arena.
The Museum will continue to be open throughout the construction period, except for a short time between October 2007 and February 2008. Construction work is set to be complete in May 2009, with new exhibitions installed by Autumn 2009.
When complete, the At Close Quarters redevelopment project will provide better environmental conditions for the conservation and preservation of the world’s best collection of tanks.
Improved displays and exhibitions with new amenities will enhance the visitor experience, and with more space, the Museum will be able to publicly display more of its unique artefacts publicly.
Richard Smith added; “The associated benefits of this project will see The Tank Museum reinforcing its place at the front rank of the world’s finest military museums." |
| ENDS |
Aerial view of the £16m New Display Hall and arena to be built at The Tank Museum.
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![[image] Artist's Impression of the West Elevation](images/new-images/westelevation.jpg)
Artist's impression of the West Elevation
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![[image] Tanks In Action at The Tank Museum](images/new-images/07.jpg)
Tanks In Action at The Tank Museum
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(image size 448KB) |
| Notes To Editors: |
| THE HOME OF THE TANK |
Few people realise that South Dorset is home to the largest and most significant Museum of its kind to be found anywhere in the world.
At The Tank Museum in Bovington, you can see the biggest and best collection of tanks in the world; from the first tank ever built to the modern Challenger II.
Many of the vehicles in our collection cannot be seen anywhere else. Our definitive collection comprises over 250 vehicles dating back to 1909, and includes the world’s only fully functioning Tiger Tank.
Here you will come face to face with tanks that have seen action in all the major wars of the 20th Century. Around the Museum, visitors are taken on a spectacular journey – exploring the life of the tank crew and the history of these magnificent machines.
The Tank Museum attracts on average 115,000 visitors per year, and is especially popular with visiting tourists, who flock to see the Museum’s Tanks In Action vehicle displays.
Set at the heart of Dorset’s heritage coast in the picturesque surroundings of Purbeck, Bovington was the birthplace and remains the spiritual home of Armoured Warfare, with the Royal Armoured Corps still residing here.
AT CLOSE QUARTERS:
Closer To The People, Closer To The Collections, Closer To The Action.
The Tank Museum is the world’s primary cultural resource of a globally significant idea, a resource that must be safeguarded for present and future generations.
We want to join the front rank of a new generation of contemporary museums addressing challenging issues such as warfare and conflict and their ongoing impact on society. Tanks occupy a powerful and complex place in the popular imagination, but with little true understanding of their role and use.
More space is required to release and realise the full potential of the collections, and give greater levels of access to them. Each tank has a variety of supporting objects and a story it can tell. Such interpretation is impossible in current conditions.
The project will see the complete re-display and re-interpretation of ALL collections, fully integrating our collection of armoured fighting vehicles with supporting collections and archive material.
The results will encourage enjoyment and learning through improved interpretation, public programming and high quality facilities for the benefit of all visitors, creating a step change in the role and relevance of the contemporary military museum.
We will create conditions for future growth by developing an integrated beacon attraction which contributes to the economic and social wellbeing of the area and to the quality of life for local people.
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| The At Close Quarters project will give the Museum: |
- A more spacious and welcoming building with room to understand and enjoy the scale and scope of the collections.
- New exhibitions, capitalising on the broad range of storylines armoured warfare can bring; from social and political history to science & technology.
- A new, more visually impressive and flexible arena, with improved facilities such as earth banked viewing areas to improve viewing, and allowing increased public programmes.
- More space and better facilities – which in turn provides increased opportunities for creating partnerships with business and education providers.
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| NORWEST HOLST LTD. |
Norwest Holst Limited forms the major part of VINCI PLC which offers a comprehensive construction package from inception, through ground investigation and remediation, to completion of the project and beyond to the maintenance of the facility.
VINCI PLC has 2,700 employees and an annual turnover exceeding £600 million. VINCI PLC is part of VINCI, the world's leading integrated concessions and construction company which has a turnover of 26 billion euros and 142,000 employees in over 80 countries around the world. |
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![[image] Artist's Impression of the West Elevation](images/hiquality-images/westelevation(1249).jpg)
![[image] Tanks In Action at The Tank Museum](images/hiquality-images/07(448KB).jpg)