National Trust Sutton Hoo
Adding accessible Changing Places toilet to a heritage site

Stuff to do

When architectural technology meets archaeology! Sutton Hoo is a world famous location that is home to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time: an Anglo-Saxon royal burial chamber, which included a ship and extraordinary treasures (see more here).

This historical site is owned and managed by The National Trust and where you have visitors, you need accessible facilities.

We were appointed to create a solution for incorporating a Changing Places Toilet into the site to allow as many people to visit and enjoy the attraction as possible.

How we got stuff done

We were able to call upon the great experience we’ve gained working with RISE Adaptations, putting Changing Places Toilets into a wide range of sites, often ones with varying challenges such as limited space, listed buildings, and sites that have to be handled sensitively.

Our solution proposed that we extend an existing building at the visitor centre. The extension will blend in seamlessly with the existing visitor centre and put accessible facilities within the central hub of the site. Dealing with some conditions relating to archaeology, we successfully gained planning permission.

We do love a bit of culture and history (not to mention gift shops and tea rooms!) at Farrar Bamforth Architecture so we’re looking forward to a number of other projects coming up with the National Trust this year – more details to follow.

  • We're delighted that East Suffolk Council has approved our planning application for an extension to the Visitor Welcome Centre at Sutton Hoo. This will allow us to construct a Changing Places toilet, which is a larger facility that has equipment designed to support disabled people who need assistance. As an organisation, we want our disabled visitors to have a great experience with us and we are always working to improve the accessibility of the places we care for. We hope this new facility at Sutton Hoo will help meet our existing visitor needs and perhaps encourage others to visit for the first time.

    Allison Girling, property operations manager at Sutton Hoo

Architectural team

  • Architectural Technologist

    Nathan Pearce

    Architectural Technologist

    Accreditations: BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology, ACIAT

    Skills: Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk CAD, BIM / Autodesk Revit, Computer Generated Images (CGI), SketchUp, Twinmotion

    About Nathan

    Joining us in 2023. Nathan is one of the freshest faces at Farrar Bamforth but he’s already making an impact. Nathan pursued a career in architecture due to a desire to create spaces that have a positive impact on both people and the environment and his favourite project so far was a residential development in Calderdale which made use of BIM to design a mix of dwellings on a multi-level site. He is also a regulation and policy enthusiast, and devoted to all the small details that help to keep us compliant. It was this attention to detail that helped secure him a promotion from Junior Architectural Technologist to Architectural Technologist in January 2024. See more here.

    And finally…

    Nathan’s favourite toast topping is… butter. In Nathan’s words “let’s make the world a butter place”. When not at work, Nathan enjoys baking cakes (more butter!) and then wondering where they’ve gone. We’re sure you feel ‘butter’ for knowing that 🙄

    ×
  • Associate

    Joe Hobson

    Associate

    Accreditations: BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology, MCIAT, CSCS – Professionally Qualified Person

    Skills: Autodesk CAD, Autodesk Revit / BIM, Contract Administration, Project Management, Principal Designer, Lumion / Twinmotion, SketchUp, Drone Operator and CAA licence holder

    About Joe

    As Associate, Joe is Tony’s right-hand man, playing an integral role in running the business and leading the team. Joe focuses predominantly on commercial and industrial clients and is a skilled project manager. Starting his career with Farrar Bamforth in 2010, he briefly went over to the dark side (Leeds) in 2015 but returned to the FBA fold in 2017 to take up a senior management role (and also because we’re awesome!). He introduced BIM and Revit to Farrar Bamforth and is the driving force behind our continued compliance and best practice in this area. His favourite project to date was the Magic Rock Brewery and Bar, in equal parts due to the creativity of the project and his love of beer.

    And finally…

    A lathering of high-end butter, Lurpak, is all Joe needs on his toast. Joe is a Civil Aviation Authority license holder and drone operator and, when he’s not working, enjoys following Huddersfield Town Football Club, music, travel, and time with the family.

    ×

Architectural services provided

  • Design

    MORE INFO

    Design

    There is a much-used phrase that applies to all design but was specifically coined for architecture: ‘form follows function’ and it’s something that we live by. Primarily, buildings and interios have to work so we listen to our clients when they tell us what the structure needs to do for them. For our commercial and industrial clients, this is often 95% of the brief. For residential projects, whether a housing development or a bespoke high-end dwelling, functionality and aesthetic appeal need to be finely balanced. We are equally skilled in both approaches and always client-led.

    ×
  • Planning

    MORE INFO

    Planning

    Applying for and gaining the appropriate planning permission is a vital element of the architectural process; without it, you can’t proceed. Planning policy can be complex and, if not navigated correctly, can be time consuming and, sometimes, unsuccessful. We know planning. We understand the policies and the application requirements; in fact, we have a track history of securing planning permission on complex sites that initially seemed problematic.

    ×
  • Building Regulations

    MORE INFO

    Building Regulations

    Building regulations are simultaneously the rules that keep us safe and the requirements that give architects and builders headaches as they strive for compliance with ever-evolving specifications. Not a problem for us though, as several members of the team live for the minutiae and details of regulations, and standards so we’re all over them. That not only means that your development complies with (and often, exceeds) building regs but that we also know the strategies for working with regulations in ways that don’t compromise creativity, function, or budgets.

    ×

Love this stuff?

Adding accessible facilities to historical and cultural sites is really important to allow everyone to be able to enjoy them, so we love projects like this. You can see more examples in our case study about our work with Rise Adaptations. If you have a project in mind, you can speak to Nathan about your requirements at nathan@farrarbamforth.co.uk or call 01484 424008 where any member of the team will be pleased to help.

What we're up to