Cornwall Museum
Client: Emily Estate
- Location: St Ive, Cornwall
- Architect: Stonewood Design
- Landscape Architect: LT Studio
- Status: Construction
LT Studio, together with Stonewood Design, are working on an ambitious project designed to showcase and celebrate the life and work of humanitarian, Emily Hobhouse.
The museum-led project involves the sensitive redevelopment of the place where Emily Hobhouse was born and spent the first 35 years of her life in St Ive, Cornwall.
The project will include a new visitor centre which will incorporate a tour through Emily’s childhood home, The Chantry that is currently being restored. There will be a café, kitchen garden and public spaces reconstructed to be representative of the time Emily lived there. The original Rectory will be redeveloped into one family dwelling with a further two dwellings as holiday lets.
The external spaces between buildings are designed to connect each active space. When visitors arrive they will be directed to the Blackthorne Grange welcome building via a timber ramp through a dense line of existing trees. The external café space leads directly on to the historic Productive Garden and via winding pathways to the museum building.
Emily Hobhouse was best known for her campaigns against the terrible and inhumane conditions inside British camps in South Africa during the Boer War. She spent a considerable amount of time in Bloemfontein distributing much-needed supplies and talking to other women about the harsh conditions. Returning to England, she eventually persuaded the British government to set up a committee of inquiry.
The plans represent a thoughtful and holistic approach to enhance the site and highlight its cultural importance.