A303 CPD Tour!
We enjoyed a great staff day out of the office on Thursday. It was CPD, honest!After much discussion in the office about an away day, our lovely Director Mike, set up a top secret tour of three mystery locations. The team were only told to be ready by 8:30 and to wear sensible shoes!
Rendezvousing bright and early, Claire, Loretta, Mike and Nick, set off from Salisbury just before 9.00am and headed to the new Denton Corker Marshall, Visitor Centre at Stonehenge. Arriving before the crowds it was good to see the building and overall masterplan coping with the hordes of tourists who began descending on the site. The trip out to the stones was enjoyed by all, and as we had 3 out of 4 first-timers, it led to a lot of interesting discussion and speculation.We all hoped that the plans for tunnelling part of the adjacent A303 will go ahead.
From Stonehenge we headed west to Durslade Farm, home of Hauser and Wirth. For those that don’t know -“Hauser & Wirth Somerset is a pioneering world-class gallery and multi-purpose arts centre, which acts as a destination for experiencing art, architecture and the remarkable Somerset landscape through new and innovative exhibitions of contemporary art. A landscaped garden, designed for the gallery by internationally renowned landscape architect Piet Oudolf, includes a 1.5 acre perennial meadow, which sits behind the gallery buildings” The buildings, garden and exhibits were a revelation and were much admired by all.
It also provides a really nice lunch!!For the last stop of the day we came back to Salisbury and made our way along to Roche Court to admire the work of Stephen Marshall Architects at the NewArtCentre. The range of projects, attention to detail and accessibility are admirable. Great to see a long-lasting relationship between architect and client. The obvious trust and understanding between the parties was plain to see.The Artist’s House was a firm favourite – if you haven’t visited you should try and get along to see it.
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A great day out with a chance to see 3 world class projects within a 45 or so miles of the office. Nice.Our Director Mike, always full of bright ideas!Please see the links for further information on all of the locations we visited yesterday!Hauser and WirthRoche Court