The Mary Rose was historically known as Henry VIII’s favourite warship and tragically sank in 1545 with 500 men on board. The ground-breaking restoration and new museum, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects intended to wrap a viewing and visitor centre around the ancient hull of the ship, which had been brought up from the sea bed in 1982.
The exterior of the museum is enveloped in BCL timber cladding panels, using fine sawn Western Red Cedar, coated with black architectural paint, to provide a lasting finish that mimics the original look of the royal vessel. The fine sawn timber finish allows a thicker coat of paint to be applied, increasing maintenance re-coating periods and offering a longer cycle for the client. The wooden cladding system also uses black powder coated nails, feature bolts and carvings (also known as ‘ciphers’, used by the largely illiterate crew) that were found on the original ship, reflecting the unique origins of this vital piece of British history. All timber slatted panels supplied by BCL were sourced from accredited FSC sources.
BCL manufactured and installed the wood cladding panels, FR treated to Class 0 SSF (BS 476) and steel framing system as a total envelope solution for the Main Contractor, Warings - ensuring the work was completed to the highest standard and managed directly by BCL. This project, with sweeping elliptical geometry, posed significant challenges to design, requiring careful BIM Revit modelling by BCL - but we enjoyed the challenge and are immensely proud of the finished result as a brilliant homage to the original Mary Rose Ship.
