7
At this point we needed to expand the
team involved: conservation architect,
structural engineer, mechanical and electrical
engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager,
archaeologists, interpretation specialists and
an Advisory Panel of eminent historians
was set up to act as a sounding board for
our plans. Before a whole series of interviews English Heritage East Midlands Director
Anthony Streeten who sat on the Partnership, offered to be my `phone a friend' if I
wanted to talk it through. I took up his offer, ringing him up and giving all my reasons
for the choice I wanted to make and what did he think? He replied that I had already
made up my mind and that I should go with my gut feel - of course he was right, but at
that moment it was very reassuring to be able to share. Big restoration projects often last
for several years so design team choice is critical and just for starters, it does help if you
actually like them, you will be spending vast amounts of time in each other's company -
not getting on would be torture. Conservation architect Andrew Arrol was my choice; his
sensitivity to the building and his discursive `tell the story' approach matched my own; a
decision never regretted. Probably the main thing I learnt from Andrew was that you only
go as fast as the building will let you. Sometimes you head down a road that seems right,
only to find that the archaeology or the building just says a firm no; because we discussed
these abortive plans so extensively I felt confident that they had been properly explored
before moving on to a different solution. Wednesdays for the next few years became
"
... conservation architect, structural engineer, mechanical and electrical
engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager, archaeologists, interpretation
specialists and an Advisory Panel of eminent historians...
"
Castle Day, the first of the month Design
team, the second Interpretation team,
third Programme Managers and the fourth
Operations; you can imagine our joy if a
month had five Wednesdays! We met in
a fairly dismal room in the front range of
the prison, our only comfort an erratically
noisy tea urn whose only consistency was
the horribleness of the drinks it made.
Meetings would last most of the day as we
poured over the latest plans, argued and
came up with new solutions.
We needed to gain further funding and
so applications were prepared to a variety
of organisations including the EU;
infuriatingly a successful bid for regional
funds collapsed when the organisation who
was giving us the money were disbanded
post the 2010 election - needless to say I
took it personally!
And then
a team