Architects revealed in heritage centre plan
THE architects who will lead the design of Merthyr Tydfil’s proposed £50m industrial heritage centre have been named.
Ian Ritchie Architects (iRAL) hasbeen appointed by the council and the Design Commission for Wales to develop a plan for a centre which will showcase the town’s history at the heart of the industrial revolution and the world’s largest iron producer in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The team has been asked to develop a 20-year plan for Cyfarthfa Castle and its 190-acre park, which was home to famous 19th-century ironmasters the Crawshays, and an area west of the river Taff that includes
historic furnaces.
The plan is to spend around a year working on The Cyfarthfa Plan with a team of consultants which will also involve consulting the local community.
In 2017 the council hosted a “charrette”, which was an event that brought together architects, planners, museum and heritage specialists, artists and community groups to look at Cyfarthfa’s potential.
From this the Design Commission for Wales published a report called The Crucible, which recommended £50m be spent over the next decade to develop the interpretive centre.
A working group has been set up with the aim of establishing a charitable foundation to take the plans forward and to engage with prospective funders including major UK and international trusts and foundations.
So far £1.3m has already been committed to the project through the council’s capital programme between 2018-19 and 2021-22 to use as match funding against any funding applications that are made.
Projects that Ian Ritchie Architects has been involved with include the famous glass pyramid at The Louvre, the 120m-high Spire in Dublin, the glass lift towers at the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art in Madrid, and the transformation of the Royal Academy of Music’s opera theatre and new recital hall.
Merthyr Tydfil council’s cabinet member for regeneration and public protection, Councillor Geraint Thomas, said: “We were very impressed by the skills in this team.”
Ian Ritchie said: “The whole project team are thrilled to have been selected to develop The Cyfarthfa Plan.”