Watford Museum and London-based architects John Puttick Associates team up in a project that will see the restoration of the landmark building. The Georgian mansion had initially received a funding of £175,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its ‘Making Connection’ project that was intended to help progress their plans until they could apply for a full grant.
The architects, who have previously worked on other public buildings such at the Preston Bus Station, will now be creating refurbishment and expansion plans together with the teams at Watford Museum and Watford Borough Council. The plans will be released to the public later on this year and the project is expected to be completed by 2020.
“Our museum is a much loved community hub but our building needs caring for and we want to be able to tell the story of our town in an engaging and accessible way for all of our visitors, to inspire pride and identity in our town,” said Cllr Karen Collet, a representative of the community.
The teams are excited to work together on the development of the museum and share their visions on the project. “Local museums are particularly interesting projects as they build on the heritage of a particular place and its people. Architecturally they are very much about identity and civic pride,” said Mr Puttick, who feels privileged to work on such an important cultural project in Watford.
Watford Museum has showcased since 1981 over 30,000 historical items that reflect the history and identity of the town of Watford, while at the same time relating to the people that have lived and worked there. The museum’s collections cover local history, art and costume from prehistory to the present day, paintings by J M W Turner, Peter Lely, and Joshua Reynold, and archaeology.
