Tender opportunity: Unlocking Ushaw Masterplan

Help shape the next chapter of one of Britain’s most remarkable historic estates. Ushaw is inviting tenders from outstanding multi-disciplinary teams to develop an ambitious masterplan for its extraordinary 540-acre estate near Durham.

Founded in 1808, Ushaw is a place of exceptional architectural, landscape and cultural significance: 12 listed buildings, a Grade I chapel complex, remarkable Gothic Revival architecture, historic gardens and parkland and internationally significant collections.

The Unlocking Ushaw Project, funded by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will provide a long-term strategy for the whole estate that builds on the last ten years of development as a mixed economy heritage visitor attraction open to all. The last ten years at Ushaw have been a period of sustained development and experimentation, through which it has tested and refined a business model that is now provides a viable operation.

Ushaw requires specialist skills to review the growth and development over the past ten years and provide a clear strategic framework for guiding investment, conserving historic assets, improving visitor experience, and identifying new opportunities for income generation for the next decade in order to secure its heritage, contribute to protecting the environment and cement our reputation as an inclusive and welcoming destination.

We are seeking a collaborative team combining expertise in masterplanning, conservation architecture, landscape, heritage, visitor experience, movement, accessibility, sustainability, property and cost planning.

This is a rare opportunity to think at estate scale: conserving exceptional heritage while imagining how an extraordinary historic place can thrive for generations to come.

Please contact Kate Pinnock at Ingham Pinnock Associates to receive a copy of the brief by emailing [email protected]. The deadline for the receipt of tenders is 1pm Friday 23rd October.