The Archives and Museum at Bethlem Royal Hospital will be moving in 2012 to Wakefield House North on the same site.
The project involves extending the new building laterally and vertically, fitting out the ground floor to accept the archives, and designing and fitting out a museum on the first floor.
In driving forward its aim of raising mental health awareness and combating stigma, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust requires the Archives and Museum to provide an expanded service. Visitor figures, the success of external exhibitions and the growth of the education and outreach programme have demonstrated that there is increasing demand both locally and nationally for the services of the country’s sole full-time archives and museum of mental health.
The present Archives and Museum building is steadily deteriorating with visible cracks on all sides. Without major and costly remedial action it will soon reach the end of its capability.
Our archives are continuous since 1559. We have now run out of space.
Our visitor figures have dramatically expanded in the past five years:
2003-2004 |
Comparitor |
2007-2008 |
Under 1,000 |
On-site visitors |
2,184 |
5,000 |
Off-site visitors |
85,072 |
2 |
School groups |
45 |
Because we can display only 45 of our 963 works of psychiatric art on site we meet this increasing demand by loan exhibitions. We badly need more display space on site.
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Cramped conditions inside the archives and museum. |
Wakefield House North, a building on the same site, originally built to house the operating theatre of the Bethlem Medical School in 1930. When the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals joined in 1948 it became a laboratory. Since the laboratory closed it has been used for a decade as temporary storage.
 Wakefield House South
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Wakefield House North
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- Sound, dry and secure. Extension and restructuring will require substantial alteration, some demolition and reconstruction.
- Using the existing ground floor to construct a purpose-built archive will meet the National Archives concerns of future capacity, reading rooms for researchers, and a conservation facility.
- A new first floor for Wakefield House North has been granted planning consent to provide the required space for the museum service with a central display area, further display rooms off, and space for items presently stored off-site.
- The present necessity for an Education Room in a separate building will be solved by a permanently equipped integral education facility.
- Proportionately more of the costs would be spent on constructing and fitting out a purpose-built archive and museum than on stabilising a decaying building.
- Situated on the main thoroughfare of the site, the archives and museum would arouse more interest and generate more visitors.
In 2008 a planning consent was obtained to extend Wakefield House North laterally, by squaring off the building, and vertically by constructing a first floor to match the existing first floor of Wakefield House South.
Jul 2009 - Apr 2010 |
Business case and fundraising preparation. |
Apr 2010 - Mar 2011
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Fundraising and design work |
May - Aug 2011 |
Tendering |
Aug 2011 |
Tender decided |
Aug 2011 - Aug 2012
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Build and install services |
Aug - Sep 2012 |
Commissioning |
Sep - Dec 2012 |
Move archives and museum |
Dec 2012 |
Staff preparation |
Jan 2013 |
Opening |
30 Oct 2013
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Formal opening |
The present Archives and Museum will remain open until the end of September 2012. We shall then close and move, re-opening in our new home in January 2013.
Steering Group Chairman |
J Michael Phillips
BA MSocSc FCMI AMA |
Head of Archives and Museum |
Programme Director |
Clive Baker
BSc FRICS |
SLaM Capital Programme Director |
| Planning Manager |
Janine Roberts |
SLaM Capital Planning |
Project Manager |
James Bannon |
SLaM Capital planning |
Archives consultant |
Colin Gale
BA(Hons) MPhil DipAA RMSA |
Archivist |
Museum Designer |
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Real Studios |
Architect, Lead consultant, Building Surveyor, Engineers |
Baily-Garner Ltd
Michael Bennett BSc APMP MRICS |
146-148 Eltham Hill
London SE9 5DY |
Quantity Surveyor |
Peter Solari LLB FRICS FCIArb
PSP Construction Consultants |
5 Godstone Road
Caterham, CR3 6RE |
Fundraising Management |
Development Partners UK Ltd
(PoC: Judy Niner) |
Park Farm Technology Centre, Kirtlington
Oxon, OX5 3JQ |
Historical Consultant |
Dr Sarah Rutherford |
Author: 'Victorian Asylums' |
Subject to detailed costings, the project is estimated at £3,000,000, of which £2,000,000 has already been raised
The project has the positive support of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Head of Archives and Museum Michael Phillips; Chair of Trustees Baroness Murphy; Chief Executive South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Stuart Bell
If you would like to help us raise the remaining £2,000,000, please contact Michael Phillips, Head of Archives and Museum on jmichael.phillips@slam.nhs.uk or 020 3228 4307 / 4227.
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