Place Visioning

National Waterfront Museum

£30m of grant funding secured
Secured new site for National Museum
Delivered on time and on budget

 

Project Background

The sale of the Welsh Industrial & Maritime Museum site in Cardiff Bay funded a new collections store at Nantgarw. The National Museums and Galleries of Wales then embarked on a search for a new site to showcase its maritime and industrial collections and the stories about “Wales: the first industrial nation”.

Our Approach

Our consultants were commissioned to manage a Green Book appraisal of over a dozen proposed sites from across Wales. This appraisal ultimately selected Swansea waterfront as the preferred location. Over the next 3 years, we worked continuously on the project as the client’s lead consultant, advising on all aspects of the development.

Results and Outcomes

On behalf of the client, we secured over £30m of grant investment for the project from the National Lottery, European Funds and the Welsh Government.

A critical factor that ultimately influenced the success of the museum was the parallel appointments of the architect and exhibition designer. Few projects at the time placed as high a value and importance on the museum experience as they did on the building and its ‘signature’ architecture.

The project is also credited with catalysing the wider regeneration of Swansea Docks.

What our client said

“Jim Roberts and Dan Anderson worked with Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales on many aspects of the £35m National Waterfront Museum Swansea Project, including grant bid development to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Union Objective 1, compilation of a robust business plan, recruitment of the full Design Team and overseeing key architectural, construction, exhibition design and installation team contracts. Their highly professional input was a key element in the success of this award-winning scheme.”

Professor Richard Bevins
Former Project Leader for Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales (now retired)
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