Alec French Architects (AFA) was founded in 1928. Based in Bristol, the 28-staff practice undertakes projects throughout the Southwest. All provide high quality environments for their users, offer good value for money within agreed budgets and make a positive contribution to their varying contexts. We are experienced in working closely with our clients, helping them to develop their brief and in agreeing priorities from clearly presented options. Throughout the process we welcome that close dialogue between Architect and Client and other stakeholders which is such an important part of the best design solutions. Recent and current work covers a wide range of building types including educational, residential, arts, community, office and refurbishment together with masterplanning and urban design. We have supported the SS Great Britain Trust with a number of projects over the last 10 years, the latest of which is a new museum celebrating the life and legacy of Isambard Kingdom Brunel called, ‘Being Brunel’. In 2013 Alec French Architects were asked to prepare architectural proposals for ‘Being Brunel’, a plan to restore Brunel’s Drawing Office, Listed Grade II*, and the partly derelict 20th Century dockside buildings which run alongside Brunel’s SS Great Britain, in order to transform them into a new visitor experience and museum. The new museum tells the extraordinary story of hero engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, through never-before-seen personal possessions, as well as interactive exhibits and audio-visual experiences. It gives unprecedented access to objects from the National Brunel Collection, currently cared for at the Brunel Institute. Being Brunel is a major addition at Brunel’s SS Great Britain, which is already rated as Bristol’s number one visitor attraction by the public on TripAdvisor. The Brunel Institute also now extends its research activities to take a national lead in the study of Brunel, and building a national network of lasting collaborations with Brunel sites around the UK. Education and outreach programmes associated with this expansion will serve to further inspire the next generation of engineers. A key aspect of the vision of the SS Great Britain Trust is the continued maintenance and enhancement of an exciting, unusual, authentic, accessible museum and heritage visitor attraction based upon and around Brunel’s SS Great Britain and the related collections. Integral to this is the recreation and interpretation of the dockyard as an appropriate setting for the SS Great Britain, to help visitors understand her historical context, as well as local and national connections. The project was largely funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant (HLF) as well as other key donors. Construction cost was approximately £2.85m with a further £2.4m for the exhibition fitout and other educational programmes. Planning was obtained in June 2015; HLF Stage 2 funding was obtained in December 2015. Beard were appointed as Main Contractor in September 2016 and Practical Completion was achieved in December 2017. The buildings were fitted out by a specialist Museum fit out contractor, Workhaus, with a public opening that took place during Easter 2018. The site is an important location alongside the SS Great Britain with Bristol’s Floating Harbour to the north. Originally occupied by three distinct buildings: the Grade II* Listed Drawing Office building, the Eastern North Range building, the Western North Range building, the North Range and Brunel’s Drawing Office were not accessible to the public. The site provides an ideal position for an extension of the current visitor experience, as well as for enhancing and completing the setting of the starboard side of the ship. A summary of the works: • Demolition of the existing 20th Century North Range of dockside buildings, • Construction of a new building on the same site as the existing North Range to form part of the Being Brunel museum, including café, exhibition spaces, toilets and plant areas, • Refurbishment and alteration of existing Grade II* Listed Dock Offices as part of the museum, including a first floor link from the adjoining new building, • Minor works to reinstate external hard landscaping affected by the works, • Erection of new 75sqm photovoltaic array on Jefferies Range to the south of the proposed building within the site. The building plan respected the historic footprint of the former dockside buildings. Research was undertaken using historic maps and illustrations available to the team from within the Trust’s own collection and the Bristol City Archives. The existing 1840s Drawing Office was restored and adapted so that visitors could cross from the new north range building via a new link at first floor into the 1930 extension of the Drawing Office, and for the first time step into the historic 1840s building with its timber panelled spaces. This provides disabled access to the Drawing Office for the first time. The form of the North Range building recaptures the scale and style of the now demolished historic 19th Century buildings. The south elevation, facing the SS Great Britain, has been timber clad with close references in the design to the former north range building (as archive photos). The elevation is articulated at ground floor to provide areas for dockside tableaux. This captures the massing, texture, style and effect of the 19th Century building in that location. The materials and weathering of the building add to the scenery laid out of the victualling of the ship and the equipment and baggage of the passengers, aided by the dockyard dressing. The success of this elevation will be dictated by the cladding and feeling of solidity. The new North Range building contains a large, double-height, galleried exhibition space as well as a café, toilets and secondary exhibition space. The main space was inspired by the Great Exhibition with an innovative structure truss solution and bold colours on show. Within the main space is a large head of Brunel which visitors can literally step inside. Within the head, there is an innovative multimedia experience allowing visitors to view - from Brunel’s perspective - the celebrated moments in his life. The Drawing Office will be a more intimate space, with restoration to its former 1840s interior. Being Brunel opened in March 2018 on time and on budget. It was expected that visitor numbers would bring the average number of visitors to 205,000 per annum. In reality, visitor numbers have far exceeded these expectations, benefitting from a highly successful marketing campaign which generated excitement prior to the opening weekend. In the first six weeks after opening (26th March – 30th April 2018), the Trust welcomed 37,533 visitors, exceeding the budget target by 8,494 – an increase of almost 30%. It is estimated that by year end (31st January 2019) visitors will have exceeded 213,000. Industry reviews have praised the innovation and design of Being Brunel. Museums Journal concluded that: “Being Brunel is an overwhelming success because, much like its subject, it strives to break new ground and pays painstaking attention to detail. It is also a great showcase for creative museum design.” And in the words of one of our first visitors to the museum: “A wonderful surprise, so much better than we were expecting. Brilliantly curated and fascinating. Go!” High visitor numbers and visitor satisfaction constituted a real achievement for the Trust and benefits to the business were seen immediately. Revenue from visitation over the first ten weeks of opening was £213,390 above target (£17.28 average spend per visitor), representing an uplift of 30% on the same period the previous year. Based on the increase in visitor numbers and an incremental rise in ticket prices, the Trust has benefitted from additional income of just over £500,000 in the first year of operations. The museum has already been awarded best UK and Ireland Tourism Project by the British Guild of Travel Writers, won ‘Gold’ in the South West Tourism Awards and has been shortlisted for European Museum of the Year 2019.