Wardown House
Opening up access and enhancing the function of the museum; housed within a Victorian family home.
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Wardown House is a mid-Victorian mansion house, originally constructed as a domestic dwelling. It became a museum in 1931 and is one of 100 listed buildings in the Luton area. The museum is owned and managed by Luton Culture and displays artefacts from local and national history collections.
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Buttress was appointed by Luton Culture and Luton Borough Council to delivery a Heritage Lottery Fund backed project to enhance the building’s function as a museum.
Our plans opened up the areas of the building on the ground floor, that were previously closed to the public, allowing the museum to become fully accessible.
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Another key part of the work involved looking at access issues and resolving the DDA to principal spaces in the museum. The aim of this study was to provide a clear route for visitors that was fully DDA compliant. The lift shaft facilities, security measures and fire exit were also reconfigured to improve health and safety requirements.
A Statement of Significance and an analysis of the historic decoration was also produced to support the conservation and restoration of the building, in order to reinstate it to its former glory.
Finally, we made suggestions for bringing back of house accommodation up to date and proposals for the creation of new education facilities.
Heritage Consultancy
A Management and Maintenance Plan was produced to support the museum's application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This sits alongside an existing Conservation Statement to create a full Conservation Plan.
These documents provide a framework of conservation for the future management of Wardown House. They will be used to ensure that possible changes are desirable to the long-term conservation of Wardown House and its collections.