£10m Remembrance Centre opened at the National Memorial Arboretum
Prince William has officially opened the new £10m Remembrance Centre at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
The new building is part of a wider £15.7m reimagining of the Arboretum at Alrewas, which now hosts a landscaped Heroes’ Square, a large restaurant, retail space, and coffee shop. Enhanced learning facilities mean the number of school visitors is expected to go from 15,000 to 25,000 a year, with the overall number of visitors expected to increase dramatically from the 300,000 it previously attracted.
Accompanying the Duke of Cambridge at the ceremony yesterday were veterans, volunteers and schoolchildren. The Duke unveiled a commemorative plaque and met veterans from each of the services in his capacity as patron of the National Memorial Arboretum Appeal, which funded the construction of the new centre.
The innovative design of the building has seen it nominated in the Community Benefit category of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Award, West Midlands.
Remembrance Centre at the National Memorial Arboretum
The RICS Awards showcase the most innovative and inspirational regional initiatives of the year. They demonstrate how professionals in the built environment develop, regenerate and conserve the environment in which they live and work.
Birmingham construction consultancy Edmond Shipway was appointed project and cost manager on the project.
Jamie Crouch, Director of Edmond Shipway in the Midlands, said: “It is an honour to have been part of the team which delivered a complete reimagining of the National Memorial Arboretum on time and to budget, and we are delighted to see the Remembrance Centre nominated for such a prestigious award. This was a truly fantastic project.”
The RICS winners will be announced in a ceremony at Edgbaston Stadium on May 18.
In addition to the Arboretum, Edmond Shipway has been appointed to other heritage projects such as the listed Ulster Museum building, the relocation of Manchester city centre’s cenotaph and the restoration of HMS Belfast, the UK’s only surviving World War II battleship.
