Toy Museum and Theatre, East Sussex
Client: Children's Art and Education Foundation
Location: Westfield, East Sussex
Architect's team: Anaëlle Regent
Structural Engineer: Ellis and Moore
Cost Consultant: Northgates
Area: 350 sqm
Construction Cost: £625,000
Completion: Projected 2020
The Children's Arts and Education Foundation has appointed NCA to convert and extend existing farm outbuildings to create a Toy Museum and a Puppet Theatre. The scheme accommodates an extensive private collection of toys, puppets, dolls houses and miniature theatres within buildings in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The design proposes a playful accumulation of dual pitch roofs whilst preserving the agricultural character of the existing structures. One of the new barns will offer a modular space to host performances as well as teaching spaces for toy-making workshops. The primary circulation route makes a virtue of a succession of ramps to allow full access throughout the site.