Engineering exhibition role for Focus Consultants at V&A Museum

Ove Arup Exhibition © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Focus Consultants has played a key role in the opening of a Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) exhibition dedicated to the most influential engineer of the 20^th Century.

Revealing the untold design stories behind some of the world’s most famous buildings, such as the Sydney Opera House and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, to recent projects such as Crossrail, the exhibition is the first ever major retrospective on Ove Arup (1895-1988).

Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design is part of the V&A Engineering Season and is one of the most ambitious exhibitions that Focus has completed at the V&A, incorporating a bespoke mezzanine and stairlift structure, said Focus partner Eleanor Clarke. 

It is the fourth exhibition that the Nottingham-based company has worked on at the V&A in London this year alone, and follows Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, which charted the history of underwear from the 18th century to today, Paul Strand: Photography and Film for the 20th Century and Botticelli Reimagined.

It opened just before the V&A was named the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2016, recognising the outstanding innovation, imagination and achievements of the museum throughout the preceding year. 

Focus was project manager, quantity surveyor and contract administrator for the Ove Arup exhibition, which runs until 6 November.

“Focus has been proud to have worked with the V&A on a range of exciting and informative exhibitions since 2014, reflecting our expertise in this sector,” said Eleanor. “This latest exhibition, dedicated to the work of the influential engineer Ove Arup, has been particularly ambitious and we hope visitors will enjoy the experience.

“We’re absolutely delighted to hear that the V&A Museum has recently been named as the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2016, and are so proud to have played a role in helping to provide such a rich visitor experience at this wonderful museum.”

The design and build of the Ove Arup exhibition has been project managed by the London office of East Midlands-based Focus, which opened five years ago in response to demand for its services, particularly in the museum, arts and heritage sector.

Focus, which has its headquarters at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, as well as offices in London, Leicester, and Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK. Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £953 million of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful companies of its kind.

It has worked with virtually all the major museums in London, and many across the UK, providing support for capital projects, permanent and temporary exhibitions, and renovation schemes - developing and delivering award-winning heritage projects.

For more information, visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk 

Top museums success for heritage and cultural experts Focus Consultants

Focus Consultants is celebrating a link with four of the top 20 free museums and galleries in the UK recommended by The Guardian newspaper. 

The company has worked on many high-profile museums across the UK, including the National Army Museum in Chelsea and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, which was named UK museum of the year in 2012 by the Art Fund charity.

Now four museums that Focus has worked with or is currently involved in have been named on a top 20 list of free family friendly museums recommended to visit by The Guardian. 

They are the V&A Museum of Childhood in London, St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff, Coventry Transport Museum and Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry. 

Focus Consultants, which has its headquarters at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and has branches in London, Leicester, Boston and near Lincoln, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages. The firm has worked to help many significant heritage, ecclesiastical, arts, culture and leisure schemes gain grants from a range of funding sources. 

Since establishing in 1994, Focus has helped to secure £1 billion worth of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK.   

Partner at Focus Consultants, Kevin Osbon, said: “It’s great news to see that so many of our projects have made it onto this list of recommended museums and galleries to visit. Focus is proud to be part of the teams that are creating such high quality destinations that are filled with interesting and interactive activities for families.”  

The firm worked for the V&A on a multi-million pound redevelopment of the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, which houses the V&A's national collection of childhood-related objects, including dolls' houses, toys and games, furniture and clothing. As well as overseeing the redevelopment, Focus also secured the funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which both made significant contributions to the successful opening of the project in early 2007. 

At St Fagans, Focus helped the project to secure £11.5 million - the largest ever grant award in Wales by the Heritage Lottery Fund - and was then appointed project managers and cost managers for the open air museum near Cardiff. The St Fagans project is now out to tender with works due to start on site shortly. 

Focus was strategic lead on the creation of the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum initiative - a £12m complete redisplay of the museum and art gallery including the creation of Coventry History Centre and the development of a huge glazed canopy to effectively turn the building around 180 degrees… completely changing its orientation so that it could be linked to Coventry Cathedral and Coventry University via a major public square.  

Focus is also lead consultant on a project to create an internationally significant transport heritage attraction by redeveloping Coventry Transport Museum, which has received initial support for a £4.9m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and £3m from the European Regional Development Fund.  The complete redisplay of Coventry Transport Museum is about to start on site. 

The Guardian published its list as part of the newspaper’s ‘How to see the world for free (or almost)’ series.

Visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk