In a week when Windermere Jetty Museum hit the headlines for being a RIBA Stirling Prize shortlisted building, we speak to the main funder of the museum.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund supported this cutting edge new museum in the heart of Cumbria and made the vision come to fruition.
Eilish McGuinness, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Executive Director Business Delivery, explains why the museum is so special, and the part National Lottery players have had in its story…
Eilish McGuinness
What was it about Windermere Jetty Museum that encouraged The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support it with a £14million total investment?
We have been involved with the museum since 2006, when the boat collection and site of the Windermere Steam Boat Museum were acquired through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded a £465,596 grant to put the boats in temporary storage and carry out urgent conservation works to protect them until funds were acquired to carry out a major conservation programme. At the same time the museum had to be closed to the public because of safety concerns.
We then received the application for a grant to develop a new, cutting edge museum in the heart of Cumbria. Alongside the careful consideration of sustainability as a theme, one of the real strengths of the project was the integration between the design, conservation, business and activity planning which demonstrated a clear vision and promised a sustainable future for the museum.
This was particularly significant considering the positive impact the finished project would have on the economy of the area, providing new focus for tourist activity and contributing to job creation and security for local communities – one of the key outcomes for many of the projects we support.
The museum has consulted extensively with target audiences, especially young people and local communities and this process has driven the project. Learning and engagement of hard to reach groups along with the robust volunteer and training programme has placed people firmly at the core of the museum’s activities; this will have the kind of transformational effect on the museum that we encourage in all the projects we support.
National Lottery players can really make a big impact just by buying a ticket as this museum testifies…
National Lottery players raise £36 million every week for good causes in the UK and since 1994 we have invested £8.3billion in 49,000 heritage projects.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder of UK heritage and we believe in the power of heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and into the future.
In the North of England, this has translated in more than £2.9billion invested in close to 12,000 heritage projects since 1994 – all of them benefiting local communities and supporting economic development, job creation, skill development and heritage preservation.
It was absolutely fantastic to see Windermere Jetty shortlisted for the prestigious Stirling Prize. Why is this such a remarkable building?
The building has a beautiful and remarkable setting, and it is a fantastic space in which to display the special collections that link so intimately to the landscape and cultural heritage of the Lakes; but for us, it is the sustainable philosophy that has permeated it from design to delivery to operation that makes it so special.
Designed with the consequences of the extreme weather caused by climate change in mind, the building is flood-resilient; it reuses the old wet dock, and was built with careful consideration to the durability of each of the materials used. The water used for the building functions is cleaned and filtered through a swale and reed beds, and the lake water ensures the building is all-electric, thanks to a water source heat pump suspended under one of the new jetties.
With all eyes on the fight against climate change, we believe that this building is an important new addition to the Lake District, a national park and World Heritage Site.
Windermere Jetty Museum is not the first National Lottery Heritage Fund project to cause a stir with the RIBA Stirling Prize…
The Windermere Jetty Museum is a credit to the investment made on behalf of National Lottery players, to the design of architects Carmody Groarke, to the steering and commitment of Lakeland Arts and the entire project team.
At The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have a long-standing tradition of supporting award winning projects and quality architecture in particular, with Stirling Prize winners Astley Castle (2013) and Hastings Pier (2017) and RIAS winners National Museum of Scotland (2011) on the list, alongside projects like the Aberdeen Art Gallery who won both RIAS and the RIBA National Award this year – to name but a few.
Many other projects we have supported over the years have been shortlisted in various competitions, and we’re proud of every nomination which recognises the quality of design, innovation, thoughtfulness and hard work that these projects embody.
