national waterfront museum project

NATIONALWATERFRONT MUSEUM

PROJECT

PROJECTAMGUEDDFA GENEDLAETHOL Y

GLANNAU

AGREED PROJECT OBJECTIVESMarch 1999

• CCS• Creation of a City and

Waterfront ‘destination’• Regeneration – uniting

the City and the Waterfront

• Impact on the visitor economy to the City and region

• Leisure Centre Renaissance

• NMGW• New synoptic Waterfront

Museum to National Museum standards

• Early implementation of a realisable project

• Revenue stream(s) to support operation

• Sustainable development

• Heritage Lottery Fund – 2 stage process Stage 1 submission June 2000 Stage 1 approval July 2001 Stage 2 submission April 2002 Stage 2 approval July 2002

• WDA• WTB• EU Objective 1• Welsh Assembly Government

GRANT BIDDING PROCESSMarch 1999 to July 2002

CAPITAL PLAN £33.5mFunders

• Heritage Lottery Fund £11,124,500• NMGW (sale of WIMM funds) £4,500,000• City and County of Swansea £3,774,421• EU Objective 1 £3,716,237• WDA £2,500,000• WTB £1,600,000• Private Fundraising £740,571• Welsh Assembly Government £5,724,023• TOTAL £33,679,752

PROJECT OVERVIEW

• To develop a new, innovative, sustainable museum of national status and international appeal, telling the story of 'Wales - The First Industrial Nation' to the present and for the future.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES• A new, innovative, non-charging, sustainable museum of national

and international status, telling the story of ‘Wales – the First Industrial Nation’ to the present and for the future, through the stories and experiences of the people in responding to the issues they faced, and illustrated by relevant objects and interpretative media

• A partnership between the National Museums & Galleries of Wales and the City and County of Swansea

• A museum of broad appeal and relevance, attracting in excess of 200,000 visitors per annum

• Providing the opportunity for life-long learning and development to a wide sector of the community

PROJECT OBJECTIVES• Linking the physical assets of the industrial revolution (the

collections) with the records of the era (the archives) with the written interpretation of the events, activities, changes and artefacts (the libraries) with today’s changes, and providing pointers for tomorrow

• Raising the standard of living for the people of Wales by serving as match funding for EU Objective 1 priority programmes and financial measures and acting as an appealing attraction to tourists more generally, linking with other tourist attractions in south and west Wales

• Acting as a catalyst to a broader waterfront destination in Swansea, attracting in excess of 700,000 visitors per annum, which itself serves to regenerate the Swansea Maritime Quarter and adjacent dockland and city centre areas, creating a significant number of new jobs.

THE SITE

Wilkinson Eyre ArchitectsLand Design Studio

ArupsDavis Langdon & Everest

McCann & Partners

DESIGN TEAMappointed end 2000

Building Brief Development• Gallery space (sq m)

• Specific environmental controls

• Flexible spaces

• Link Waterfront to the City

• Space for retail activities

• Level 4 on scale of 1-5

• Place in Destination thinking

• Indigenous materials

Masterplanning 2001

Architectural scheme

• Non-traditional• People-oriented storylines• Free admission• Modular not linear• State of the art delivery• ‘The Street’• Retail units• Welcoming

WHAT KIND OF MUSEUM?

• The story of the impact of industrialisation on the people of Wales

• The 1851 Census• Reflecting the economic and social

changes in industrial Wales• Telling the story through to the present

day

CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

• Land• Networks• Sea• Money• Transformation

15 themes including…

Networks

Metals

Landscape

Sea

Site works began January 2003

Interpretation styles and Access

Post-opening

• 83,000 visitors by March 2006

• Positive visitor feedback

• Commercial units let

• Shortlisted for the Gulbenkian Prize

• Nominated for an RIBA award

• Being widely reviewed by other museums, UK and overseas

January 9th 2005

by

National Waterfront Museum Swansea: Visitor Survey

Stage 1 Findings: October – November 2005

Age Profiles

36 40 37 35 3546

34

35 31 35 38 44

43

42

29 29 28 25 2112

23

Welshpopulation

NWMS NMGC MWL RLM WSM BP

16-34

35-54

55+

%- % of visitors -

2003 April – October Survey

Enjoyment of Visit to Museum

%

- By demographics -

Source: Visitor Interviews (413)

3 31 16 6

10 5

81 85

Male Female

3 41 23

58

3

710

9384

75

16-34 35-54 55+

3 31 15 77 7

83 82

ABC1 C2DE

1 3113 5

18

5

68

86

Yes No

3167

83

Total

Veryenjoyable

Fairlyenjoyable

Notparticularlyenjoyable

Not at allenjoyable

DK / NA

Agreement with statements about museum: Technology

Source: Visitor Interviews (413)

Rating – How much do you agree or disagree that ….. - %

4.6

1.9

Mean score

There was too much technology within the

displays and exhibits for me

8 12 4 16 60

The technology in the museum was very

impressive74 15 7 21

Agree strongly (5) Agree slightly (4) Neither agree nor disagree (3)

Disagree slightly (2) Disagree strongly (1)

Overall Opinions of the Museum

Source: Qualitative Depth Interviews (20)

Majority very impressed

“It’s a lovely building and a really good museum – I’m very impressed”

“Fantastic a great day out – the kids haven’t been bored yet so that’s always good”

Main reactions were:

Like the interactive displays / stations all around museum

“It’s a clever use of interactive technology I’ve seen anything like it before, and I’ve been to a few museums, it’s so much more sophisticated! ”

Interesting & educational

“It’s very fascinating, I’ve found out a lot of things [about Swansea] today that I never knew and I’ve lived here all my life”

“It’s a good representation of our industrial history”

Modern & good use of space

“It’s a very modern museum but everything seems to fit in ”

Minority felt rather disappointed

Too modern, preferred old Maritime museum

“It’s too new, there’s not that old feeling a museum should have. The contrast between the old content and the new building doesn’t work”

“I really liked the old museum, this doesn’t seem to be a good change”

Overall Opinions of the Museum (Continued)

Source: Qualitative Depth Interviews (20)

Too bitty

“There’s no flow from one section to the next it’s all a bit random”

“It’s a bit difficult to know what the museum is about, there doesn’t seem to be a definite subject matter”

Confusing map / leaflet

“I don’t think I’m particularly stupid but I found that very confusing”

“There are so many arrows on it [map] I didn’t know where I was!”

Summary / The Way Forward?……

• Large majority found it enjoyable and were impressed by the museum

• Seen as very educational and very exciting

• Staff are also viewed very favourably

• Technology / interactive displays impressed visitors and seen as positive by most

• Small minority – technology / modernity was a ‘turn off’ (more likely to be older visitors)