Heartlands

Rising to the challenges of conservation and tourism

The Heartlands project, with its World Heritage Site status and funding from the Big Lottery Fund, presented one of Stride Treglown’s most significant challenges.

Our brief was to transform a collection of disparate former tin-mining buildings into a cohesive visitor attraction to bring tourists to this area of West Cornwall.

We assembled an multi skilled team of architects, planners, conservation specialists and landscape architects who, from the outset, worked closely with the client and the local community.

Our planning team worked on many complex planning issues and resolved the masterplan for the site while, as lead designers, our architects worked with LUC landscape architects in the creation of diverse Diaspora Gardens, reflecting the destinations of Cornish migrants through history.

The focus of the scheme is the Robinson’s shaft, which, in common with all of the buildings on site, was restored sensitively and within tight cost constraints. We used tin, copper, bronze, brass and zinc to reflect the site’s heritage, merging this with the introduction of more contemporary architecture to a sensitive heritage environment.

The result of this collaborative work has been outstanding. Visitor numbers have exceeded all expectations and it is proving to be a catalyst for the wider regeneration of this area, which has been transformed from one of the least prosperous areas in England to a thriving leisure destination.

The project achieved BREEAM Excellent status, was brought in on budget and Stride Treglown has received numerous awards for the project including: RIBA national and regional; RICS; RTPI and Civic Trust.