Cromford Mills Masterplan Presentation Purcell Miller Tritton & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cromford Mills Masterplan Presentation

Purcell Miller Tritton & Parkin Heritage and Tourism

Understanding the Potential Audience

• an essential pre-requisite
• Catchment of up to 10m people within 90 minute drive time
• Derbyshire attracts 3.65m staying visitors and 31.6m day visitors
• Peak District 22m to the north : Derby 7m to the south
• Heights of Abraham (c.200,000), Crich Tramway Village (c.90,000) plus Gulliver’s

Kingdom and Matlock Bath on the doorstep… penetration up and down the valley clearly an issue

• World Heritage Site attracts c.500,000 visitors (but no hard data)
• Cromford is the largest ‘heritage’ attractor at c.100,000 visitors
• Sizeable education market of 110,000 pupils in Derbyshire… but majority of WHS

visitors are over 45 (30% over 60)

• Traffic infrastructure seen to be more than adequate at present

Cromford Mills

• a complex user profile
• 330 members
• Up to 100 volunteers (on rota basis)
• Businesses based on site and

visitors to businesses

• Regular local day visitors

Cromford Mills

• a complex user profile
• Event visitors (including Discovery Days,

Heritage Open Days)

• Staying visitors in the area
• Group visits (schools and adults)
• Over 40 FT/PT staff
• 100,000 visits is baseline

Cromford Mills

• a mixed use site
• Established heritage attraction within World

Heritage Site

• First water powered cotton spinning mill which

successfully achieved mass production and arguably ‘changed the world’ … created by Sir Richard Arkwright

• An events venue
• A conference venue
• Business venue : offices, retail, workshops and
• ther opportunities

….. and soon to be a gateway to the World Heritage Site

A World Class Visitor Experience

• the essential structure
• Needs to be easy to get to… well signposted from major road network into

attractive car parks

• Creating a sense of arrival, welcome, orientation, toilets and retail
• Visiting the gateway… and coming out inspired having peeped into

Building 18

• Taking a tour of the site, the village, the

canal, church and Willesley Castle (or enjoying the facilities on site)

• Attending an event
• Having lunch or tea in one of the cafes,

revisiting the shop

• Departing (leaving with fond memories)

eager to return and to tell friends and family

A World Class Visitor Experience

• the essential structure

At present… our surveys say…

• Most visitors have been before (and many come

regularly)

• Most come by car and travel over 10 miles
• They come for the countryside and a walk… not

necessarily the heritage

• Tend to stay up to 2 hours
• Most use the cafés and shop
• 81% over 45 : 65% over 55
• Vast majority leave satisfied
• Significant proportion would like to see improved

interpretation and, ideally, a museum of some kind

However we need to…

• Offer greater diversity of experience
• Create facilities for family groups and young people
• Increase the range and number of tours and extend the events

programme

• Provide a dedicated education

service

• Create a reason for visiting… the

Gateway Centre does this and offers the opportunity to build on the successful features of the site

Building 17… the Gateway taking us to the next level

• WHS gateway will set a new standard for

the World Heritage Site

• Will include innovative and interactive

model of the WHS and a spectacular audio visual which will engage visitors and encourage them to go out and explore

• The retail and information centre

will provide visitors with the wherewithal to do so… publications, downloadable trails, tours, tickets etc

• Introductory interpretation on Cromford

Mill and internal view of Building 18

Building 17 : Concept Layout of Interpretation Proposals

Building 17 : Concept Visuals Of Interpretive Model

A Key Part of Our Proposals

• the HLF Funded Activity Plan
• This represents the non-capital elements which will bring

the site alive

• Offer extended tours programme, innovative all year round

events and activities programme

• Establishing a fully equipped education base in Gothic

Warehouse with Education and Outreach Officer providing curricula related programmes and summer activities programme for young people

• Stimulating greater community participation and

involvement

• Recruiting a larger team of volunteers, providing training,

developing links with all the sites along the World Heritage Site

• Offering heritage skills training as part of the main

restoration contract working with training providers and providing taster days for the general public

But the Gateway Needs Additional Visitor Infrastructure

It is estimated that the gateway will attract up to another 50,000 visits per annum which will build up over 3/4 years… this requires:

• Enhanced car parking
• Sense of arrival and welcome… first impressions so important
• Visitor welcome centre with visitor orientation, toilets and retail
• Improved and larger catering with restaurant and production kitchen
• Serviced events area near the entrance
• Improvements to the whole yard (completing circulation route from viewing platform)
• Development of ground floor of Gothic Warehouse as education centre

Emphasis on Sustainable Transport

• Whilst our projected increase in visitor numbers represents a small

percentage of those who are already in the area we will…

• Seek to maximise capacity of car parks on Mill Road (working with

partners)

• Prepare a Travel Plan
• Encourage greater use of public transport (Derwent Valley Line, bus

services and potential shuttle bus service)

• Seek to traffic calm Mill Road

Attracting Compatible Uses

• Completing the Vision
• Essential to restore Building 18 to tell the

Arkwright story

• Potential to extend our conferencing and
• ffice accommodation
• Real opportunity to become a wedding

venue and develop the functions business related to Building 1 and the production kitchen

• Believe there is a market for high quality

leisure learning centre (similar to Dillington House Somerset) potentially with overnight accommodation

Attracting Compatible Uses

• Completing the Vision
• We want to establish craft studio/workshops to bring another element of life to

the site

• Experience elsewhere suggests that successful mill conversion involves mixed use

development for commercial and knowledge based industries, cultural and tourism attractions with complementary retail and catering and (where appropriate) overnight accommodation

• Our combined proposals offer a mixed use solution to the site which provides year

round footfall and income in a world class setting with many similarities to New Lanark

• Working with the WHS team and

partners to devise sustainable transport solution

• Now is our time… we cannot

wait a further 30 years to complete the restoration!

Cromford Mills Masterplan Presentation

Purcell Miller Tritton Parkin Heritage & Tourism

Site Analysis

Total internal floor area : 6388sqm Total internal floor area currently vacant: 3757sqm

Currently 58 % of the total floor area on site is vacant

Site Analysis – Existing Uses at Cromford Mills

Option D

Building 18

Building 18 - Internal views Photographic plan

Considering Possible Circulation Routes

1 Stair / Lift Core Option

2 Stair / Lift Core Option

Utilising the Existing Building or Reinstating the Upper Floors . . .

Building 1

Building 1 - Internal views First floor Ground Floor – Arkwrights Attic Stone staircase Existing openings Privy and heating flues Third floor

Building 1 - Proposals

Building 17 - World Heritage Site Gateway & Creative Cluster

Sketch Designs

Building 17 – Testing the scheme Single stair scheme – view to privy

Buildings 14, 15, 16

Buildings 14, 15, 16

Buildings 8, 9, 10

Building 8 Building 9 Building 10 Building 8 Building 9 Building 10

Buildings 8, 9, 10

Cromford Mills

• What Will It Cost?
• Building 1

£2.2million

• Building 17

£3.2million

• Building 18

£3.6million + £0.8million Interpretation

• Building 8,9&10

£0.65million

• Building 14,15&16

£1.2million

• Building 24&25

£0.28million

(The Manager’s House)

• Building 27&28

£0.4million

(The Wharf Cafe& Gothic Warehouse)

• Minor Buildings

£0.5million

• Site & Car Parking

£0.32million

• The Aqueduct

£0.5million

• Total

£13.65million