Visitors to Ickworth House in Suffolk will now benefit from improved facilities following the completion of a project by independent management, design and construction consultancy Pick Everard.
Managed by the National Trust, the Georgian Italianate palace required new toilets and shop for an increasing number of visitors to use, a challenge due to the constraints of the historic site and the necessity to be located close to the car park within a protected landscape.
Jeremy Ault, senior building surveyor at Pick Everard’s Bury St Edmund’s office led the project. He said: “Ickworth House is a really beautiful spot, which provided us with a series of challenges when planning and designing the new facilities.
“For example, the area in which it now sits is surrounded by a number of historic protected trees, so we had to work very closely with English Heritage throughout the project to ensure that the new building sat comfortably in its historic setting.”
The new timber framed building includes a number of sustainability features, such as underfloor heating powered by an air source heat pump as well as energy saving devices including low flush toilets and sensor taps.
Pick Everard acted as lead consultants on the project, delivering services including project management, design and quantity surveying. The firm also provided mechanical and electrical services.
Partner at Pick Everard, Alastair Hamilton, said: “We were delighted to be appointed to deliver this project for the National Trust at what is a wonderful historic house in Bury St Edmunds.
“This was a project where we provided a truly multi-disciplinary service, delivering excellent facilities for visitors.
“Due to the nature of the build, our team was presented with a series of challenges which they worked hard with both the National Trust and English Heritage to overcome.”