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Museum of the Garden, The Newt

This high-profile tourist attraction, nestled in Somerset, demanded an extraordinary feat of geotechnical and structural engineering to deliver the architectural vision for an underground museum with a tree canopy walkway forming the entrance.

We were appointed by the Emily Estate (UK) Ltd to provide structural and civil engineering, fire engineering, and geotechnical engineering services to design and construct a new underground museum within the Emily Estate in Castle Cary. We also provided geotechnical and substructure design engineering for the tree canopy walkway that forms part of the entrance to the museum.

Most of the structure of the museum is beneath the ground and our combined geotechnical and structural ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ in the design of buried structures allowed us to avoid expensive piled retaining walls. Our geo-environmental specialists undertook two phases of ground investigation for the museum and the column foundations of the tree top walkway.

Our structural engineers designed the columns and the roof slab soffit with architecturally exposed concrete. Detailed structural design of architectural metalwork items, in collaboration with a steel fabricator, was required for items such as the balustrading to make sure the architectural intent was realised and metalwork items integrated seamlessly with the building.

Our fire engineering team was appointed to provide services relating to the proposed development of the Stage 4 Fire Safety Strategy. Our fire safety strategy report demonstrated to the Authority Having Jurisdiction how the museum meets all the functional requirements of the Building Regulations 2010 related to fire safety and to outline the strategy to the design team.

In addition to the garden museum, we were involved in several other projects to regenerate the area into a world class heritage and visitor attraction. This includes constructing a museum to showcase Roman ruins found on the site, a new gym, a beehive attraction, and a luxury farmhouse.

In 2021, the Museum of the Garden was shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects South West Awards.?