Civic Trust Award for Focus Consultants project

Project manager Focus Consultants is celebrating after a scheme the company was involved in scooped a key Civic Trust Award.

SeaCity Museum in Southampton was one of 32 projects across the country to receive one of the awards, which are given to projects that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment.

Focus, which is based at Phoenix Business Park in Nottingham, and has offices in Holborn, London, Endeavour Park, Boston, Princess Road East, Leicester, and Aubourn, Lincoln, was the project manager for SeaCity in conjunction with Southampton City Council.

The £15 million maritime museum opened in 2012 – 100 years after the ill-fated Titanic set sail from Southampton – and development involved converting the grade II* listed former Magistrates’ Courts adjoining the Civic Centre, Southampton City Art Gallery and the Guildhall. It is the centre piece of a major regeneration of the city’s new Cultural Quarter.

“Focus Consultants is proud to have been part of the team that developed Southampton SeaCity Museum, and we are delighted to hear the news that it has won a prestigious Civic Trust Award,” said Focus Consultants partner Steven Fletcher.

The Civic Trust Awards is the longest standing architectural and built environment awards scheme in Europe, having been established in 1959. Civic Trust Award level schemes must demonstrate excellence in architecture or design, sustainability, inclusive design and make a positive social, cultural, environmental or economic benefit to the local community.

Building constructor for SeaCity was Kier Construction and architect was Wilkinson Eyre Architects, with the exhibitions being designed by Urban Salon and installed by 8Build.

Focus Consultants supported the City Council in development of the Heritage Lottery Fund applications for round 1 and round 2 of the SeaCity project. The company acted as project manager for the whole scheme, including the building and exhibition works, and also contract administrator for the exhibition works.

Focus is a multi-disciplinary company which specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the Midlands and the UK. Focus has secured more than £900 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes since 1994.

For more information about Focus Consultants visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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Awards for Focus Consultants’ museum refurbishment project

Nottingham-based Focus Consultants is celebrating the news that one of its projects has received two accolades in the awards that are regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the property world.

The £5.4m refurbishment of Tudor House Museum in Southampton picked up the conservation project award at the 2012 RICS South East region awards, and went on to be named as the overall project of the year.

The scheme will now go forward with the other regional finalists to the national award ceremony run by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London later this year.

Focus Consultants, with offices at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, Endeavour Park, Boston, Princess Road East, Leicester, Aubourn, Lincoln, and Holborn, London, was the project manager for the refurbishment of Tudor House Museum – a 15th Century Grade 1 listed building and gardens.

“I am absolutely delighted to hear that Tudor House Museum has been named as the conservation project of the year for the south east region by RICS and also its overall project of the year,” said Focus Consultants partner Steven Fletcher.

“The RICS awards are prestigious awards, which shine the light on some of the best projects out there. We are honoured to have been part of the team working on Tudor House Museum, which has five centuries of life under one roof, and which has now been restored and conserved for future generations to enjoy.”

Focus worked with Southampton City Council as project manager on the Heritage Lottery Fund-backed restoration scheme. The museum re-opened last year after nine years of specialist work to conserve, restore and transform the building back to its former glory, and at the same time install the latest audio-video technology to tell the stories behind the building’s unique history.

Focus Consultants has worked on many key heritage, cultural and arts developments across the UK, including the recently opened SeaCity Museum in Southampton and Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, which opened at the end of last year.

The company specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK. Since its creation in 1994, Focus has secured over £800 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes - including enterprise support, innovation, culture, health, regeneration, affordable homes and energy carbon sustainability projects.

Other partners in the Tudor House Museum scheme were architects Purcell Miller Tritton LLP and exhibition designers Exhibition Plus.

Photo of Tudor House Museum courtesy of Southampton City Council.

www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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Anchors away for Focus Consultants’ latest museum project which features the Titanic story

East Midlands-based project managers Focus Consultants played a major role in the opening this week of a new £15 million maritime museum featuring the story of the Titanic.

The new SeaCity Museum in Southampton was unveiled exactly 100 years after the ill-fated ship set sail from the city on her maiden voyage. Five days later she sank in the Atlantic Ocean, off Newfoundland, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

Focus Consultants, based in Nottingham and with offices in London, Leicester, Lincoln and Boston, has been project manager for the new museum scheme in conjunction with Southampton City Council.

The development involved converting the grade II listed former Magistrates’ Courts adjoining the Civic Centre, Southampton City Art Gallery and the Guildhall, and is the centre piece of a major regeneration of the city’s new Cultural Quarter.

“This has been a tremendously exciting project to be involved in, and we are very proud of the new SeaCity Museum, which represents a real asset to the maritime heritage of Southampton and its tourist attractions,” said Focus Consultants partner Steven Fletcher.

“The team at Focus Consultants has wide experience of both heritage and tourism schemes, and SeaCity Museum is a combination of the two. It’s expected to attract thousands of visitors, and 2012 is a particularly significant year for the museum to open, given that it’s exactly 100 years after the Titanic went down and it’s such a momentous event in Southampton’s history.”

Focus Consultants developed the Heritage Lottery Fund application for stage 1 and stage 2 of the project along with Southampton City Council. The company acted as project manager for the whole scheme, including the building and exhibition works, and also contract administrator for the exhibition works.

The SeaCity Museum features two permanent exhibitions focusing on Southampton’s Titanic story and the city’s role as a gateway to the world, as well as a special exhibition marking the centenary of the Titanic disaster. It has been designed and built to engage visitors of all ages with exciting interactives throughout its three galleries: Gateway to the World, Southampton’s Titanic Story and Titanic the Legend.

The museum, which was opened by British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, is expected to attract 150,000 visitors every year.

Building constructor was Kier Construction and architect was Wilkinson Eyre Architects, with the exhibitions being designed by Urban Salon and installed by 8Build.

Focus Consultants, which has its head office at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK.

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has secured over £800 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes - including enterprise support, innovation, culture, health, regeneration, affordable homes and energy carbon sustainability projects.

Representatives from Focus attended the official opening of SeaCity Museum, which took place on April 10th.

Focus has offices at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, Endeavour Park, Boston, Princess Road East, Leicester, Aubourn, Lincoln, and Holborn, London.

The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Southampton City Council £4.9 million towards the attraction. The remainder of the £15 million was raised raised by the council. A Southampton Cultural Development Trust has also been formed to raise funds towards SeaCity Museum and other aspects of the Cultural Quarter.

www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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