Weald & Downland Living Museum Gateway Buildings, Architect, Photo, Design, Wood Award

Gateway Buildings, Weald & Downland Living Museum

Architecture in South Downs National Park, Sussex, UK – design by ABIR architects

26 Aug 2017

Weald & Downland Living Museum Gateway Buildings

Location: Singleton, nr Chichester, West Sussex, southeast England

Design: ABIR architects

Gateway Buildings, Weald & Downland Living Museum

Photos : Jim Stephenson

Weald & Downland Living Museum boasts a collection of over 50 vernacular buildings spanning 950 years, all rescued from destruction and re-erected in the Grade II* registered South Downs National Park.

ABIR architects were commissioned to design a new 850sqm visitor centre consisting of retail, gallery, café and community spaces.

The design connects the Museum to two new clusters of buildings set either side of a central entrance court forming a transitional gateway.

The buildings are designed to be entirely timber, consisting of two primary elements; Green Oak frame and cross laminated timber (CLT).

Other timber features include hand-cleft English chestnut roofing shakes, sweet chestnut cladding and natural wood-fibre insulation.

Internally, sweet chestnut battens have been used to create the undulating kite roof.

Gateway Buildings, Weald & Downland Living Museum – Building Information

Location: Chichester
Architect: ABIR Architects
Client/Owner: Weald & Downland Living Museum
Structural Engineer: Cooper & Withycombe
Main Contractor/Builder: A&F Pilbeam Construction Ltd
Joinery Company: The Green Oak Carpentry Company Ltd
Wood Supplier: LBSA (Green Oak), KLH (CLT)
Steelwork: Solent Engineering
Wood Species: French Green Oak, Austrian Spruce, French Sweet Chestnut, English Chestnut

Gateway Buildings, Weald & Downland Living Museum Shortlisted for the Wood Awards 2017

Twenty outstanding structures have been nominated for the Wood Awards 2017 shortlist, featuring some of Britain’s best architectural designs in wood.

Wood Award Shortlisting for Gateway Buildings, Weald & Downland Living Museum

ABIR Architects

Location:Chichester, England

Sussex Architecture

Downland Gridshell, Weald & Downland Museum, Singleton, nr Chichester, West Sussex
Edward Cullinan Architects + Structural Engineer: Buro Happold

image courtesy of architects
Downland Gridshell, Sussex Building: Weald & Downland Museum