ISG Jackson to create new visitor facilities at Audley End House

Wednesday 20, January 2010

ISG Jackson Special Projects has secured a £533K contract with English Heritage at Audley End House in Saffron Walden, Essex. The property, which is one of English Heritage’s top 10 most visited sites, currently hosts a high profile exhibition exploring domestic service in the Victorian era and this latest phase of work adds to the story with the re-development of the stable yard and cart yard.

The impressive Jacobean mansion occupies a parkland setting created by the renowned landscape architect Capability Brown, and the house, grounds, service wing and kitchen garden are all open to visitors. The recently restored Service Wing provides a unique insight into life below stairs in the 1880s, and for around 50 days a year, costumed interpreters bring the kitchen, laundry and dairy to life.

The second phase of this £multi-million project sees the contractor refurbishing the Jacobean stable block, the tack house, coach house and cart yard. ISG Jackson Special Projects will sensitively repair and refurbish these existing buildings to enhance access, create a new café and retail area, and provide an additional dimension to the visitor experience. The stable block will host an exhibition on the evolution of the estate and provide an insight into the life of grooms, gardeners, gamekeepers and farm labourers in the 1880s, whilst the western stalls will be returned to full working order and house a number of horses, which will be used for live interpretation with visitors.

The small nineteenth century tack house building will be fully renovated and equipped with period saddles and bridles and incorporate video projection technology to reveal the story of the coachman. The existing coach house is subdivided into three areas and ISG Jackson Special Projects will create a new gift shop within the large central core, with the Audley End fire engine and its hose carrier, which is currently undergoing restoration, housed either side.

The cart yard shed buildings will be converted into a new café area, with the cart yard transformed into a children’s play area modelled on Audley End. The entire project is scheduled for completion by Easter 2010.

Stuart Talbot, divisional director for ISG Jackson Special Projects, commented: “The specific challenges of working with historical structures demands a highly collaborative approach with client, contractor and conservation bodies working together to achieve project delivery on time and within budget. ISG Jackson has built up impressive industry credentials working with architecturally important buildings, with a burgeoning project portfolio including schemes at Loughton Hall in Essex, Mote House in Kent and Clare College Cambridge.”