A Visit to Museum and Art Swindon– by Rebecca Davies. First impressions of the new Museum and Art Swindon now located in the civic offices on Euclid Street.
Introduction
I haven’t blogged for a while as these days I am very busy. I have found my dream job. Unfortunately it is 500 miles away. I am working for the Scottish Crannog Centre, I did want a job in a museum, but this is an up and coming heritage centre.
It is probable that this will be my last winter in Wiltshire. I must write a valedictory. (And it is interesting I have found a Wiltshire connection where I am. This could be my next article).
Of course, this won’t stop me from writing on Wiltshire a bit more. Aside from the fact that I have so many projects on these days, many concerning my work. But anyway, to the point, Museum and Art Swindon is now open. It opened up early this summer so of course I had to visit.
The Building
The new museum is in the Grade II listed, brick-built, Art Deco Civic offices, on Euclid Street. So, a bit more central than Apsley house on Bath Road, Old Town.
A Visit to Museum and Art Swindon – the civic offices on Euclid Street Swindon
The gardens at the civic offices feature a pergola, contemporary with the building and included in the listing.
The pergola in the gardens at Swindon’s civic offices
The building is of an `8` plan with two open courtyards. One has been well kept up, and the other is a bit more neglected. They are not accessible to the public and are designed to look down into.
The museum is located on the first floor of the civic offices – accessed either by this fetching staircase or the newly-installed lift.
Staircase in the civic offices on Swindon
Observe that the original interior is still intact. But I do not know if this nice parquet floor is original; it fits though.
What I saw in the museum
The layout is pretty simple (and there is nothing wrong with that) with a chronological arrangement along the corridor. The exhibits are in the office rooms opposite. It’s an effective use of the layout.
So, it starts with prehistory (everything from Dinosaura to Iron Age – to be tidy) and ends with the present day. I particularly liked Bruce the fundraising dogs collecting box, medals and solid silver collar.
Bruce the collecting dog in swindon’s museum and art gallery
Along the corridor it’s contextualised with a timeline on one side and maps on the other. (I love maps.) These maps are well reproduced. In particular the one of the north-east of the famed Andrews and Drury map of Wiltshire.
And of course there is a gift shop. A lot of the merchandise is dinosaura based, with not much museums or local merchandise. Though there are some rather nice things, such as the tea towel print of Desmond Morriss Girl selling Flowers, and Alfred Wallis Ship Amid Tall Waves.
Art-related merchandise in the gift shop at Swindon museum and art galleryDinosaur related merch the gift shop
This is Swindon Museum and Art Gallery of course, so the other end is devoted to paintings. A subject I will admit I am no expert on. So, I reserve no comment on that.*
*What’s shown here is the Elizabeth Frink exhibition
The Elizabeth Frink exhibition
What I didn’t see
A crocodile! A Crocodile! (OK, it’s a Gharial…) I did ask after her and I was told she is being restored.*
*Born Again Swindonian here. The gharial is restored and is returning to the museum at length – but in a case this time to the prevent the stealing of teeth and claws etc.
I did though see a stuffed rat but none of the stuffed animals that I recall – though I think they were a touch shabby.
There were the Roman burial remains from Northview, in Purton. But not the section of pavement from Pavenhill – also in Purton.
There is almost nothing on the railway, but of course that is the remit of Steam Museum. They do though have a section on the trams.
Living in Scotland I have noticed that, though very keen on heritage there is a certain disdain for Industrial history there. (At the moment, fashions in heritage change, of course, and a lot of the industrial technology was invented and developed in Scotland). To see Swindon without the railway is an interestingly different view.
The website
This is a modern museum and it has a good website. It has a simple design and is and easy to navigate – some are not!
I work for the Scottish Crannog Centre, and I must say their website is half-hearted. But of course, this is a very different sort of museum; one that it is vital to go and see in person. It’s a hands-on museum – though there is a collection. And they are planning on upgrading the museum space to make room for hosting touring exhibitions.
Museum websites are so often very much dependent on having staff/volunteers who can design them.*
*NB: this is not the case with Swindon Museum and Art
In conclusion
I am so glad to see a town museum in Swindon again. As I said in my article on the old museum I myself am rather conservative when it comes to museums; I like ones with lots of artefacts to ogle. It is a bit new feeling at the moment but I am sure it will become familiar to all us Swindonians.
Swindon Theatres Black Friday. As part of Trafalgar Theatres, Swindon Theatres feels excited to be taking part in the UK’s Biggest Black Friday Theatre Event. As this means amazing theatre ticket deals for our customers.
From Glasgow to Guildford via London’s Gielgud, on 18 November 2024, our sister companies London Theatre Direct and Trafalgar Tickets launch the UK’s largest Black Friday theatre event, featuring ticket deals across 60+ venues and over 200 productions nationwide. With prices starting at £15 and savings up to 60%, this is an unmissable opportunity for theatre enthusiasts. And Wyvern Theatre and Swindon Arts Centre customers can be part of the action too!
Swindon Theatres Black Friday
How long does it run for?
Running from Monday 18 November to Sunday 8 December, the UK’s Biggest Black Friday Theatre Event will treat savvy theatregoers. Not only to huge savings on tickets to top-selling shows but also to Premium and Band A tickets, ensuring best-in class visibility.
From pantomime and family shows, comedy to blockbuster musicals, this Black Friday event promises something for everyone.
Besides West End and London shows, you can find great deals can across the UK at Trafalgar Theatres. Theatres including:
Churchill Theatre (Bromley)
New Theatre (Cardiff)
Lyceum Theatre (Crewe)
Orchard Theatre (Dartford)
Fareham Live (Fareham)
Glasgow Pavilion (Glasgow)
G Live (Guildford)
Beck Theatre (Hayes)
Wycombe Swan (High Wycombe)
Trafalgar Theatre (West End)
Cliffs Pavilion (Southend-on-Sea)
Palace Theatre (Southend-on-Sea)
Swindon Arts Centre (Swindon)
Wyvern Theatre (Swindon) with up to 50% off tickets!
Laura James, Theatre Director, said: ‘With Christmas around the corner, this is the perfect time for Wyvern Theatre and Swindon Arts Centre customers to access some amazing Black Friday theatre ticket deals. Not only for our venue, but for some of the biggest theatre shows in the West End. We’re delighted to be part of this exciting collaborative campaign with our Trafalgar colleagues for the first time.
In demand
Festive favourites and Christmas performances are sure to be in high demand, so grab these fast and enjoy a magical, budget-friendly, holiday experience with family and friends! But customers don’t have to book over the busy festive periods. The best availability will be in the new year, a great way to start 2025!’
Black Friday marks an exciting milestone for us at Trafalgar Tickets and London Theatre Direct. It’s the first time we’re bringing together exclusive offers from both West End shows and our regional UK theatres,’ said Johan Oosterveld, CEO of Trafalgar Tickets and London Theatre Direct.‘
This time of year is a peak booking period for theatre tickets. And we’re thrilled to invite audiences across the country to rediscover the magic of live performance. Whether they’re experiencing a show for the first time, revisiting a classic, or gifting an unforgettable experience to someone special. There’s no better time to be part of the magic of theatre with the UK’s Biggest Black Friday Theatre Event!’
Last year’s Black Friday saw over 150,000 tickets sold, resulting in £3.5 million in customer savings. With limited availability and high demand, early booking is essential to secure preferred seats.
Following the paralympics in September, the roadshow will run for the rest of 2024 and into 2025. And judo clubs across the UK can book their Paralympic heroes to visit, inspire, educate and even run a masterclass with their members.
Chris, who lives in Wiltshire, won bronze in the +90kg class in Paris four years on from winning a gold medal in Tokyo in a different weight category. His achievement in winning two medals at two consecutive Paralympics makes him among the top achieving judo competitors in the world.
‘I’m thrilled to receive this invitation to be part of the Paris Roadshow. The roadshow’s design aims to inspire and empower young people – or anyone – who loves judo and wants to be part of this fantastic sport.
‘Not everyone wants to be an elite athlete and that’s okay. Judo is far more than that. It teaches discipline and resilience. And it builds confidence and it’s about team effort and personal achievement. All these skills are valuable to achieving your dreams in life, whatever those dreams may be,’ Chris said.
Chris, who hails from Yorkshire, now lives in Wiltshire. He’s one of several British judo athletes who are taking part in the British Judo Paris Roadshow. Another is Paris silver medallist Dan Powell, Wiltshire-based Evan Malloy and athletes Chelsea Giles and Emma Reid.
DOUBLE PARALYMPIAN MEDALLIST JOINS JUDO ROADSHOW – Chris Hunt Skelley MBE, who is part of the British Judo Paris Roadshow initiative.
Ambassador – you’re spoiling us
In the run-up to the Paralympics, Chris was also one of five ambassadors for Path to Paris. Path to Paris is an initiative set up by Get Set – the official youth engagement programme from Team GB and Paralympics GB. Chris found himself named as a top ten sports personality on the Disability Power 100 List. 2022 saw Chris receive an MBE for services to sport.
Chris is registered as having a visual impairment and lives with ocular albinism. Ocular albinism is a rare genetic condition. It’s caused by the inability of pigment cells in the eyes to produce normal amounts of pigment. It results in blurred vision, difficulty with perceiving depth of field and sensitivity to bright lights.
‘Stories with Santa’ is happening on Saturday 7th December and Sunday 8th December. There’ll be 45-minute sessions where children can get into the festive mood. Staged at Revolutionary Tuition Centre in Redhouse North Swindon, each session will involve Santa and his Elves telling stories. And then meeting and greeting all the children and each child will receive a ‘winter’ gift.
Fi Da Silva Adams, founder of RPA, said: ‘This is a new offering from us this year to bring some joy to children in our town and from further afield. There are 16 sessions to book on to across the weekend. We’d like to thank Santa for giving up a weekend in the super busy month of December to bring a little festive cheer to our guests!’
‘Stories with Santa’ tickets cost £15 – plus booking fee). You can book online in advance here https://bit.ly/3CgJnvH
Santa Story Time With RPA – Fi Da Silva Adams, founder of Revolution Performing Arts and the woman behind the upcoming Santa Story Time event in Swindon on December 7 and 8.
Also on offer
The RPA team is also offering access to school holiday cover this December. This is through Wiltshire County Council for both private bookings and for those who are eligible under the county’s FUEL programme.
Anyone wanting to book privately at Christmas camps in Chippenham, Westbury, Malmesbury and Royal Wootton Bassett can do so. These camps will take place on December 30th and 31st and January 2 and 3 2025.
RPA currently runs 27 performing arts classes across Wiltshire, the Cotswolds and Oxfordshire for young people aged (4-18) for a variety of Performing Arts skills.
Hurrah! At LAST I’ve made it to No 50 in this Swindon in 50 More Buildings blog series. I began it back in the before times, in 2019, with this piece about the County Ground Hotel. But then the pandemic got in the way. And then a joint authorship of a book about West Swindon interfered. Anyway – at last I’m here. I have every intention of turning these fifty blog posts into a physical book. With hopes that it doesn’t take me a further five years!
Now, I cogitated a great deal about what building should fill the No 50 spot. I settled on this one because it brings about a bit of circularity – and I love that. In Swindon in 50 Buildings I included the Allied Dunbar Tri-Centre – and that morphed into Zurich. So it links to an entry in the original book. Even its name, Unity Place, works on that level.
And, besides that, it’s an important inclusion as it’s the first new commercial/business building erected in Swindon in …. well … decades? So for that alone it serves as an appropriate full-stop to this series.
Unity Place Zurich Building Swindon
A confession to make
Having had an excellent tour of the building I’m well impressed. Its interior has the WOW factor in spades – and more of that in a bit. But for me personally, that’s not true of its exterior. I’m not struck on the black at all. And – a box – couldn’t the architects have come up with something more striking than that?
Now I’m willing to concede that there may be valid reasons why the basic shape of this building is as it is. Yet a small part of me feels that just maybe an opportunity has been missed here to give Swindon something spectacular. That said, on the inside I’d argue they have – and that’s great for their employees. Indeed it’s been designed to enhance the well-being of the staff. As is clear to see. And that is of course amazing.
But for the rest of us – what we’re looking at is a big, black, oppressive box … But I know lots of folk that DO like it so each to their own hey? I mean, it mystifies me that some people don’t like the David Murray John tower – whereas I think it’s wonderful – so horses for courses etc.
Anyway! Having got that off my chest let’s move on to some actual facts about Unity Place.
An award winning building
Designed by MATT Architecture and built by Skanska, the building had its official opening in April 2023 – though it was occupied from October 2022.
Unity Place gained a BREEAM excellent accreditation. That’s both for the project design stage and the completed building. The award covers a range of categories from the materials used to health and wellbeing. Indeed the sustainability credentials of the building are quite something. It’s designed to rank among the top 10% of commercial buildings, in terms of sustainability, in the UK. With EV charging points, a bicycle storage and repair centre and energy efficient LED lighting it’s achingly cool in the sustainable stakes. There’s even beehives and Swift nesting boxes on the roof.
Interior view of Unity Place SwindonBee hives on the roof of Unity Place SwindonView from the roof top terrace of Unity Place Zurich Building
Further, there’s furniture made from recovered ocean plastics, a multi-faith room and a nursing room. So every need appears to have been considered. Well except perhaps parking … An employee, who shall remain nameless, told me she loves working there. And even loves the sustainability credentials. But that it’s not so hot for parking. Obvs parking and driving is at odds with the eco credentials of this building. But it’s an uncomfortable fact of life that cycling and public transport don’t work for the majority of people. Indeed, as a non-driving, public transport user I can testify to how much it doesn’t work!
Keeping with the sustainability/recycling theme, the three sculptures in front of the building incorporate a range of recycled materials from rubble to TVs.
Descriptive plaque outside the Zurich buildingTwo sculptures and a Swindog outside Unity Place Swindon – photo by Lucas Gleed.
A commitment to Swindon
Okay – the main thrust of these posts is about the buildings themselves. But for the purposes of this blog post, if not the eventual book, I think it’s important to say a little about Zurich and their commitment to Swindon.
As we know, Zurich has a long history in Swindon. And they publicly state that they remain committed to the town – and to the county – as one of its largest employers. Their commitment includes their long-standing charity arm, the Zurich Community Trust. It works with many local charities and community groups – all chosen by local employees.
In the words of Tim Bailey, CEO Zurich UK and a Swindonian to boot:
‘Having grown up in Swindon, it’s great to be able to give something back to the community I had such a great start in. It’s crucial we can give local people the chance to build a career in their hometown. This includes investing in a building that will enhance the lives of employees and the wider community.
Zurich is pleased to support Swindon Borough Council and the Government’s continued investment in the town, to encourage local economic growth. We look forward to strengthening our strong links with local schools, businesses, and our charity partners through the work of ZCT.’
Unity Place Zurich Building Swindon
A few facts to finish
Zurich funded the building with a ‘Sale and Lease Back’ agreement with Swindon Borough Council (SBC). SBC owns the building now it’s complete and they let it to Zurich. The business occupies 80 per cent of the building. The unoccupied area will be available for future expansion or for future sublet opportunities. The building’s design caters for this type of flexibility. Thus allowing Zurich to retain their own Zurich entrance, reception, atrium and lifts. Any third-party organisations would remain separate, having their own entrance and lifts.
Their lease for the building is for twenty years. But there are early exit opportunities for some of the space (the third of the building at the rear east side – ground floor to fifth floor).
Who will pick up the bill for any empty space? Zurich have accounted for paying for occupying the whole building. Thus there’s no additional cost for empty space. Should Zurich decided to dispose of any surplus space in the future this could offer a saving.
Yes, one could argue that they’re benefitting from the building split as they have the opportunity to sublet the space. But, this could go some way to offset the costs they’re paying to split the building now. And that’s something that they might not have had to do.
