Fort Nelson
Portsmouth, Hampshire

Several years of rapid visitor growth at Fort Nelson highlighted limiting factors that were starting to hinder both audience numbers and the ability to interpret the Fort and its collection: primarily, physical layout and size of the key galleries and visitor facilities were no longer able to cope with the level of demand; as well, a large part of the collection was housed in a temporary tented structure with no environmental controls in which some of the main items of the collection had started to deteriorate.

The process of redevelopment needed first to bring together an understanding of the Fort and the requirements of the Armouries, through close consultation with many stakeholders including English Heritage, The Palmerston Fort Society, Winchester Conservation Department, Natural England and various other local action groups.

After a conservation plan had been generated and agreed on, we developed a masterplan in line with the issues highlighted above which highlighted potential workstreams. This was then aligned to a funding plan and the project put into realisation on award of a £2 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Our design turns the museum on its head, creating an exciting main entrance across an existing drawbridge previously only used by staff.

It achieves the following headline improvements:

• The provision of two very different buildings (visitor centre and gallery) in sites with complicated planning constraints (in or adjacent to an Ancient Scheduled Monument and in a Site of Special Scientific Interest)
• An impressive new entrance gallery to provide instant ‘wow factor’ upon entering the museum
• A new visitor centre that increases the capacity of the shop, with a modern café open to both museum’s visitors and general public, maximising the potential of the commercial activities on the site
• A new carpark with accessible bays, facilities and platform lift to make the whole of the fort fully inclusive
• A sensitive use of materials, ensuring that both buildings are in harmony with their context
• The use of sustainable materials and passive environmental strategies to create a low-cost building with minimal environmental impact.

The new gallery created on entering the fort allows for a stunning three-storey-high space to showcase star objects such as Saddam Hussein’s Super Gun, as well as act as an orientation point for visitors on arrival.

The removal of the 1930s semi-detached house and unsightly associated drive and garden and their replacement with a new, earth-covered visitor enhances the overall setting of the fort by restoring its original position on a mainly open grass-covered vantage point on the South Downs overlooking Portsmouth harbour.