Fire Service National Museum Fire Service National Museum South Downs National Park Re-Format, commissioned by the Fire Services National Museum Trust, designed a new interactive museum building to house its burgeoning collection of fire vehicles and ancillary exhibits, recognised by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) as a national collection. The project offers an opportunity to create a significant tourist museum attraction within the heart of the South Downs National Park with emphasis on education, public recreation and research. The building is set on a naturally sloping site and utilises the gradient to control its prominence from significant public vantage points. In homage to prehistoric ring structures, the accommodation is arranged in a circular format creating an external screened arena at it’s centre for vehicle displays, performances and fire training. The roof is forested to further reduce the building’s visual impact on its setting and incorporates woodland walks offering distant views of the countryside. None The project has attracted enthusiastic support from relevant stakeholders and the National Lottery which is keen to see the building exploited to its full potential as a venue for public events and as a permanently open destination for experiencing the natural rural setting. “I found the enthusiastic Re-Format team to be extremely impressive with their overall design concepts that clearly provided the best all-round solutions.” Neil WallingtonInternational Fire & Rescue Consultant & AuthorFormer Chief Fire Officer: Devon Fire & Rescue Service
