Business

Gilbert-Ash in £13m scheme to revamp National Army Museum

BELFAST construction and fit out contractor Gilbert-Ash has completed a major refurbishment of the National Army Museum in London in a contract worth £13 million.

As part of the Museum’s £23.75m 'Building For The Future' project, which was supported by £11.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the company worked with architects BDP to complete a reconfiguration of the museum site and create a more accessible and flexible environment to meet the needs of a quarter of a million visitors annually.

Ray Hutchinson, managing director at Gilbert-Ash, said: “This was a highly prestigious project for our company and we were honoured to have senior members of the Royal family preview our work. Our brief included building a two-storey extension which will provide dedicated education facilities for the first time for the 200-plus learning groups who visit every year.”

He added: “The building has been completed to the highest standard. It involved several complex considerations, including ensuring that the archive space is environmentally controlled to make sure that the collections are properly preserved.

"Gilbert-Ash has become well established in the arts and culture sector and our work includes the 2014 Stirling Prize-winning Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. We are working on several other landmark projects at the moment including the refurbishment of Bristol Old Vic and Mountview Academy of Arts.”

Founded in 1960 by Royal Charter, the National Army Museum was established for the purpose of collecting, preserving and exhibiting objects and records relating to the Land Forces of the British Crown.