CAST is delighted to have been awarded a grant from Arts Council England’s Small Capital scheme to renovate the building. An award of £499,999 for renovations will provide facilities in the public areas of the building, enabling CAST Café to become a full-time operation, making the building more accessible, and bringing the old school assembly hall into use as a multi-purpose space for public events, as well as creating a space for residencies.
The project will be undertaken in two phases. At the beginning of next year work will begin to create a kitchen for CAST Café and to refurbish the café space, with the addition of new French windows and a terrace, to be ready in time for the opening of Groundwork at the beginning of May 2018.
The second phase of work will begin in September 2018, after the close of Groundwork. A new entrance route and lobby area will be created for the old school assembly hall, which will be refurbished to create a multi-purpose space for public events. Heating will be installed, enabling a wide range of activities to take place throughout the year.
The project is supported by grants from Cornwall Council and the Monument Trust, and by funding from Helston Town Council and the Helston Downsland Trust. Further fund-raising will be required to complete the scheme.
The outline design was prepared by the London-based architectural practice Cooke Fawcett Architects, which was founded in 2015 by Oliver Cooke and Francis Fawcett, both of whom formerly worked with Herzog & de Meuron Architects on major UK and international projects including Tate Modern. Cooke Fawcett’s scheme provided the basis of the successful application to Arts Council England.
CAST has now appointed Alison Bunning to develop and deliver the project. Known for her award-winning work at Kestle Barton, Alison Bunning is a respected conservation architect who has undertaken work on a broad range of historic buildings. She will be working with Trevor Humphreys MRICS, a project manager and quantity surveyor who specialises in challenging grant-aided projects in the cultural sector in the South West.