Chedworth Roman Villa, United Kingdom

FEILDEN CLEGG BRADLEY STUDIOS
Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Awards:
WAF (World Architecture Festival) Awards – shortlisted
RIBA National Award 2013

CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Gloucestershire Awards 2012

 

This project seized the opportunity to offer an entirely new experience of one of the most important stretches of Roman mosaics in Northern Europe. Our innovative approach involved replacing the existing and inadequate Victorian shelters with a new conservation and visitor shelter over the west range of this internationally significant Roman villa in rural Gloucestershire, England.

Until the 1860s, Chedworth Roman villa lay dormant and undiscovered under a mass of earth and shrouded by a forest. The extraordinary remains of one of the most complete (and today most visited) domestic Roman sites in Northern Europe were discovered when a dog digging for a ferret brought tesserae mosaic fragments to the surface. Subsequently it was presented to the public as a heritage site in Victorian Britain, one of the earliest examples of such interpretation. The internationally significant legacy of occupation dating back over eighteen hundred years can still be found in the two kilometres of Roman walls, fourteen breath-taking stretches of intricate mosaic floors and hypocausts (underfloor heating systems).

Our formal and material approach to the new building was inspired by the strength of the rural setting, the need to provide a technically stable environment for the beautiful mosaics and remains of the villa, along with our conviction that the archaeological heritage should remain the star of the show. The main aim of the design was to enhance the legibility of the many layers of this Roman and Victorian site by adding a discreet but confidently 21st century backdrop to the archaeology.

Reversibility:  The new building sits lightly on the Roman foundations. As it spreads its weight evenly across the existing walls through a rhythm of optimally sized timber frames, it is held in place principally by its own self-weight. There are no fixings into the Roman masonry of the villa.  Assembled from a kit of parts, it can be easily demounted or adapted as future interpretation and conservation practices change.

http://europaconcorsi.com/projects/240781-Chedworth-Roman-Villa