An award-winning world-class visitor experience and scientific and educational resource. Located at Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard, the Museum has been built to exhibit and conserve Henry VIII’s warship.
When the 16th century ship was raised in 1982 it was held in a temporary structure within the museum building. The final phase of the new-look Mary Rose Museum provides stunning panoramic views of the ship from all nine galleries through floor-to-ceiling glazing on the lower and main decks. On the upper deck visitors enter the Weston Ship Hall via an airlock and are separated from the ship only by a glass balcony.
Ridge provided Employer’s Agent services and Project Management on Phase 3 of the museum programme. We were responsible for managing the design team, overseeing contractor progress and managing project performance against the programme and budget.
Given the critical nature of the environment, careful planning and implementation of strict measures were necessary to deal with:
- Protecting and preserving the ship’s hull
- Securing the live military dockyard
- Ensuring work permits etc
These factors required weekly forward-planning meetings with the contractor and the Client’s conservation team.
Results
Throughout works, the visitor centre remained open.
The project received £3 million Heritage Lottery Funding and therefore involved regular monitoring meetings with the HLF representatives.
The project was completed ahead of the strict deadline, set for the re-launch of the UK’s most popular tourist attraction.
