Windermere Steamboat Museum and Historic Boat Collection Architects Brief 1

Index Executive Summary 4 Context 6 Rayrigg Bay 8 Windermere Steamboat Museum 10 The Collection 12 Vision and Objectives 14 Overview of the development 16 Outline building space requirements 17 Cover: View of the site from the lake, in the foreground is the wet dock which will be refurbished Lakeland Arts Trust 3

Executive Summary The Lakeland Arts Trust (LAT) wants to appoint an architect-led team which should also include the services of a structural engineer, M&E engineer and landscape designer. The Windermere Steamboat Museum is a nationally significant project with a unique combination of a nationally recognised collection of steam launches, motor boats, yachts and other boats, which are all associated with Lake Windermere, and the stimulating site on the lake shore. The site has magnificent views across Lake Windermere and is close to Bowness and easily accessible to the eight million visitors annually to the National Park. In May 2011 the Lakeland Arts Trust secured a Stage One Pass from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of 7.4 million, including 0.5 million development funding. This enables the Trust to take the project forward with the aim of creating an exciting, active museum which uses the lake and the lakeside setting to display the boats so that visitors can see them in the environment that they were designed for. The Museum will describe the social history of the boats, their owners and uses as well as the technology and construction. The project will also enable visitors to see the boats being conserved and progress from unrestored vessels to active boats once more on the water or in the exhibition space. The completed museum will include excellent learning and visitor facilities. The Museum brief combines new build and partial refurbishment. The Museum will be a key element of the Windermere Waterfront Programme, which seeks to place Windermere at the heart a cohesive destination providing a sustainable, world class visitor experience to enhance key sites and link them via the lake and other sustainable transport options. Lakeland Arts Trust sees the sustainability of the completed museums as highly important and plans to deliver this by creating a high quality visitor experience that encourages people to return, exceptional quality of design that is appropriate for the site, high environmental standards and designing to deliver the business plan. The Trust will appoint the architect-led team through a design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. This outline brief should be read in conjunction with the Preliminary Briefing Paper issued by the RIBA in June 2011. Right Top: Mañana Diana Matthews Right Bottom: White Lady II David Matthews Far Right: SL Osprey Diana Matthews 4

Context The Lakeland Arts Trust took responsibility for the Windermere Steamboat Museum in 2007 adding the museum to the Trust s existing facilities: Abbot Hall Art Gallery and the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry, housed in a Grade 1 Listed 18th century house in Kendal, and Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts house in Bowness, designed by MH Baillie Scott in 1898-1900. In doing so, the Trust took over a collection, which is recognised as being of national significance and an important part of the United Kingdom s dispersed national boat and maritime collection. The development of the Windermere Steamboat Museum has the support of key agencies in Cumbria and North-West England. The Lakeland Arts Trust is developing it as a major part of the Windermere Waterfront Programme which is led by the Lake District National Park Authority and is being delivered by a group of organisations around Lake Windermere. This Programme aims to bring together existing and proposed accommodation and attractions around Windermere as a cohesive destination that can provide a range of world-class experiences to be enjoyed sustainably by visitors. There is an emphasis on high quality provision of services, design and public realm, linked together by attractive forms of sustainable transport with the lake at its heart. The Museum development is integral to the delivery of wider local and regional strategies including the aims of the Lake District National Park, Cumbria Tourism and South Lakeland District Council. The Windermere Steamboat Museum is easily accessible to the 8.3 million visitors annually to the Lake District and is linked to both the national road network, railway and lake cruisers. The quality of visitor experience and design that the Trust wants to achieve will strengthen the much needed regeneration of the area. It is widely accepted that the Lake District needs to invest in the tourist offer and raise the quality of this is in order to attract visitors in an increasingly competitive market. Right: View of Windermere Lakeland Arts Trust Right Bottom: SL Branksome Lakeland Arts Trust Far Right: On board SL Mosquito on Windermere Lakeland Arts Trust 6

Rayrigg Bay Windermere When the Lakeland Arts Trust took over the old museum and the boat collection it also secured a long-term lease on the land at Rayrigg Bay that houses the museum and a boathouse three miles south at Ferry Nab. The land totals approximately seven acres and the surviving original museum buildings include the wet dock, a workshop and an interlinking building which now houses offices and small object storage. The northern part of the wet dock was originally the open dock used to load barges with gravel that was extracted on site from the lakebed. The works closed in 1975 and the museum opened in 1977. For some years after the museum opened it attracted 80,000 visitors annually in a short season. Later on the old Windermere Fire Station building was moved to site. Lakeland Arts Trust erected a temporary building in 2007 to house the collection. Cockermouth Keswick Lake District National Park Grasmere Coniston Ambleside Windermere Steamboat Museum Bowness-on- Windermere Kendal Blackwell Abbot Hall & Museum Penrith M6 Motorway The site is bounded by Lake Windermere to the west and Rayrigg Road to the east. There is a permanent caravan park to the south and a private house and garden to the north of the site. The design team will need to take account of the rise and fall in the height of the lake and the risk of flooding and damage in storm conditions. The site has approximately 250 metres of lake shore. There are magnificent views across Lake Windermere to Claife Heights to the west and the Langdale Pikes to the north and to some of the many small islands on the lake. Right: A view from the museum Lakeland Arts Trust 8

Windermere Steamboat Museum The Lakeland Arts Trust took responsibility for the Windermere Steamboat Museum and Historic Boat Collection in 2007 and with a major grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund placed the boats into temporary storage. The condition of the museum buildings and other concerns meant that the Trust had to close the museum to the public and access is currently restricted to prebooked tours and special open days. The Trust, with expert advice from National Historic Ships and other organisations and advisers, immediately addressed three key issues: How to manage the conservation programme; How to approach re-opening the museum to the public and future care and presentation of the collections; The Competition Brief includes a conservation workshop, visible to the public and a key part of the interpretation, to enable the conservation programme to continue on site. The Museum buildings date from 1977-82 and were partly converted from the old industrial units and the Trust concluded that the museum buildings would have to be replaced or significantly upgraded to: Create a quality visitor experience; Accommodate, conserve and display the boats in a safe environment; Develop learning, community involvement and other activities. The appropriate scale and nature of the replacement museum. The Trust initially prioritised assessment of the collection to establish the conservation needs. The specialist reports identified clear advantages in the Trust undertaking the boat conservation in-house and the Trust secured funding for the conservation works in 2009 and began the boat conservation programme in 2010. Right Top: Conservation on SL Osprey Steven Barber Right Bottom: Exterior of the existing boat house over the wet dock Steven Barber Far Right: Removing a steam boiler Lakeland Arts Trust 10

Steamboat and historic boat collection The Windermere Steamboat Museum has a nationally important collection of historic vessels demonstrating the continuous development of boatbuilding in the Lake District concentrating on the last 250 years, although the collection dates from 1320 all the way through to the late 20th century. The collection was built up in relation to its locality of lake Windermere, the largest lake in England. George Pattinson, who had a passion for the Great Age of Steam, largely amassed the collection. The collection was officially recognised as of national significance when the core group of 11 boats was transferred to the Trust in 2007 through the UK Government s Acceptance in Lieu Scheme. At the same time the boats owned by the Windermere Nautical Trust were also transferred to the Lakeland Arts Trust. All the boats in the collection have a connection with Lake Windermere and a substantial number of them are either the oldest of their type or innovative in some form. The collection consists of: Five yachts charting sailing on the lake from the 18th Century to late 20th Century; Seven rowing boats and a group of canoes, demonstrating the development of recreational sport and leisure activity; Seven motor boats highlighting the move from steam to petrol progressing to the mass-produced launches popular in the post-war period. Six speedboats, from a 1921 boat powered by a WW1 airship engine to the development racing boats illustrating the desire to bid for new water speed records from the 1920s through to the 1950s; Other material including archives, photographs, paintings, craft tools, costume, film and oral recordings which tell the story of the boats, their builders, owners and uses. Two bog boats dating from pre-1320 showing the earliest form of boat construction; Ten steamboats ranging in age from 1850 to 1907; Right Top: Trimite, 1983 Right Bottom: MV Jane on Windermere Lakeland Arts Trust Far Right: Boats in temporary storage Steven Barber 12

Vision and objectives Project Vision Conserve and display the nationally important Steamboat and Historic Boat Collection on Windermere in the heart of the Lake District. Create a dynamic and sustainable museum which conserves and interprets the boats in an active and engaging way, involving people in heritage and supporting economic development. Aims and objectives The aims and objectives of the project are: Access and interpretation Make the collection publicly accessible through exhibitions, operation of selected historic vessels on the lake and live interpretation; Open up access to Lake Windermere in a stimulating site and enable visitors to explore the ecology of the lake and lakeside; Interpret the boat conservation; Involve artists and crafts people with heritage and in interpretation and learning programmes. Learning Create inspiring formal and informal learning opportunities; Develop boat building and repair skills through training, apprenticeships and the volunteer programme; Extend knowledge and understanding of the collection through research and interpretation. Conservation Conserve and develop a nationally significant collection of boats associated with Lake Windermere. Participation Involve local people in the museum as volunteers and supporters; Attract diverse audiences and broaden participation through the museum s activities. Sustainability Enable the museum to be sustainable in the long-term through quality of visitor experience and by designing to deliver the business plan and to minimize the carbon footprint; Use the location in the Lake District s most visited centre to place the museum within easy reach of the communities of Cumbria and the North of England; Support the economic and cultural development of Lake Windermere, South Lakeland and Cumbria. Right Top: Windermere Ferry Right Bottom: SL Dolly Diana Matthews Far Right: Steam gauges Lakeland Arts Trust 14

Overview of the Windermere Steamboat Museum Development The following is a brief description of the primary facilities that will need to be provided at the proposed Windermere Steamboat Museum. A more detailed brief will be issued as Stage 2 of the RIBA Design Competition. The museum development will include exhibition space for displaying the steam launches, motorboats, yachts and other vessels dating from 1780 to 1980 and telling the stories of their construction, owners and use on Lake Windermere. Within this space, an additional temporary exhibition area will focus on different aspects of the Lake s history and the boat collection. A conservation workshop where visitors can watch boat builders and apprentices at work on the collection will form a key element of the visitor experience. This will enable the Lakeland Arts Trust to continue to address the conservation needs of the historic boats. centre offering an inspiring programme for visitors of all ages will be central to the development. The multipurpose space will also cater for family activities, seminars, lectures and meetings. Visitor facilities will include the shop and café which will promote the work of local craftspeople and producers. The site has inspiring views and will offer access to the lakeshore to enjoy the views and learn about the lake s wildlife and ecology. Jetties alongside those existing on the site will enable visitors to see steamboats in operation and take trips on historic craft. The third element of the Museum will be the wet dock where boats will be displayed and operation of boats on the lake. The Trust has decided to retain the existing wet dock and to refurbish the building as this is in a central and historic location. The dock building, including the viewing areas is approximately 750 2 metres. In addition to the core display space, a learning 16

Outline building space requirements Primary Use of Space New build Approx. m² Reception 20 Retail 40 Exhibition/Display 500 Temporary Exhibition inc. Conservation Workshop 262 Circulation space and plant areas are 318 additional to this at 25% of primary spaces approximately Total new build 1590 Refurbishment Wet Dock including viewing areas 750 Overall total 2340 Separate machine shop inc. Store 100 See below - Cafe 150 Education, resource and meeting space 100 Slipway - Administration offices, workshops and loading bay Storage 50 inc. Visitor facilities, WCs 50 Total Approx. 1272 17

Contact Site: The Windermere Steamboat Museum Rayrigg Road Windermere Cumbria LA23 1BN As we are developing the plans for the redevelopment of the museum, the site is currently closed. Office: Lakeland Arts Trust Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria LA23 3JT T 015394 46139 F 015394 88486 E cupton@lakelandartstrust.org.uk This document is published by the Lakeland Arts Trust (registered charity no. 526980) 2011 www.lakelandartstrust.org.uk MLA PRISM Fund, Charles Hayward Foundation and Sir John Fisher Foundation 18