Mott MacDonald to renovate 800-year old Hay Castle

Mott MacDonald is to project manage the Rick Mather-designed restoration of the Grade I-listed Hay Castle in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, on behalf of the Hay Castle Trust.

The £5m renovation will transform the currently derelict building into a culture, arts and education centre.

The late 12th Century castle was tranferred to public ownership for the first time in 800 years when it was sold by its then owner, Richard Booth, to the Hay Castle Trust in 2011.

The trust has received funding from sources including the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the property. The project will see the conservation of at-risk areas such as the medieval keep and archway, Jacobean mansion and service wing, while the castle’s ancient gate, the oldest of its kind in the UK, will also be restored and opened to the public.

Mott MacDonald is also providing mechanical and electrical, fire engineering and infrastructure design services for the multidisciplinary team led by Rick Mather Architects. The restoration project will incorporate the designer’s proposal of a world of books theme, with specialist fit out provided throughout the castle keep and gallery contained within the Jacobean mansion.

The consultancy is also responsible for handling the procurement and tender processes and project managing the pre-construction and constructions phases of the project, from technical design through to handover.

Mark Smith, Mott MacDonald’s project director, said: “We are bringing both innovative and tried and tested solutions to this project taken from our experience of working in the heritage sector.

“With projects of this nature we actively manage risk at every stage, which has been a key feature of our past service delivery and a major contributing factor to our success.”