English Heritage appointed vHH to work with J&L Gibbons Landscape Architects in 2015 to restore the attractiveness and viability of Marble Hill Park and House. The House is the best of the few surviving ‘arcadian’ villas in the Richmond area, uniquely complete with its grounds which run down to the banks of the Thames. The project aims to transform interpretation and understanding of the Grade I listed House and the Grade II* listed Park’s heritage, provide better quality recreational facilities in the Park and attract a much wider range of audiences.
It is of key importance for the client that Marble Hill is given a sustainable business model, so that the Park and its listed buildings become self-funding and can be preserved for posterity and accessible to all. A key ingredient of the overall plans are vHH’s proposals to refurbish and extend the Grade II Stable Block to provide a new café and small shop. The income generated by the café and shop underpin the business plan for the whole park, meaning that Marble Hill House would be open to the public free of charge and on a free-flow bases, five days a week for seven months of the year.
Our feasibility proposal for the refurbishment and extension of the Grade II listed Stable Block was part of the overall bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for Parks for People Funding and were granted a Round 1 pass in July 2016.
Subsequently vHH’s Stable Block proposals have been developed with English Heritage and the input of local stakeholders and, with the other proposals for the historic landscape, House and sports block, have been submitted to Richmond Council for Listed Building and Planning Consent in parallel with the Round 2 submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Client: English Heritage
Contract value: Undisclosed
GIA: 480m2