It’s always a good feeling when we hand over projects, but this one was a bit special, as The Princess Royal officially re-opened Station Hall at the National Railway Museum in York to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the museum opening in 1975.
The Grade II-listed structure was built in the 1870s as York’s main goods station and was operational right up until the 1960s.
During the £11m restoration project, a new roof was installed to provide a thermally efficient and weather tight solution to protect the museum’s collection of unique locomotive engines, royal carriages, road vehicles and other museum collections for years to come.
Existing large wooden sliding doors at the rear and side of the hall were opened up with new thermally efficient glazing fitted in the arched openings, allowing views to the South Yard and new Boulevard, whilst still adhering to the building’s Victorian heritage.
There were also considerable improvements to public access, an upgraded heating system, lighting and new fire suppressions system. A new 632 panel, 256kWp photovoltaic array was also fitted to the roof. Providing electrical power to Station Hall along with the newly refurbished adjacent main kitchen, with capacity to power future buildings on the estate.
Works will now continue onto the construction of Central Hall, which, apart from providing a stunning new entrance to the museum and a much needed accessible link between Station Hall and Great Hall, will also include a Futures Gallery, Café, Retail and Visitor Amenities joining the new Museum Square, railway station and York Central development also currently under development.