How we did it ... World listing sets Welsh town on tourism drive

David Callaghan, Planning, 5 September 2008

Background: Located between Abergavenny and Pontypool, Blaenavon was awarded world heritage site status in 2000 due to its major importance in the history of the iron, steel and coal mining industries.

Who is behind it? Torfaen County Borough Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, Heads of the Valleys Programme, the Welsh Assembly's Department for Economy and Transport, Visit Wales and heritage body Cadw. The main contractor was Davlan Construction and the architects Purcell Miller Tritton.

Project aims: To combine listed buildings in the town with a modern purpose-built structure designed to provide a focus for visitors.

Skills involved: Design sensitive to the history of the site, partnership working, project management, fund-raising, strategic planning, marketing and consultation.

The conferring of world heritage status on Blaenavon by UNESCO in 2000 acted as a catalyst for a funding initiative to finance a new visitor centre. The new facility, which opened earlier this year, is the UK's first world heritage centre.

The small town in south Wales assumed global significance after the ironworks were established in 1789. It played an important role in the industrial revolution and represented the strength of the Welsh iron and coal industries.

Blaenavon reached the height of its population by around 1913. This coincided with the peak of the south Wales coal industry. But with the decline of the industry Blaenavon become a broken community and landscape, according to Torfaen County Borough Council.

"The centre was conceived as part of the heritage-led regeneration of the town," explains John Rodger, the council's world heritage centre co-ordinator. "The project has done a great deal to put industrial heritage on the map."

It is hoped that visitors will be drawn to the town by the best preserved ironworks in the world, as well as a coal mine and the Big Pit Mining Museum, where tours are conducted by former miners. Terraces of slate-roofed workers' homes, a steam railway, a tram system, furnaces and community facilities also add to the experience.

The visitor centre comprises a new glass and steel atrium and incorporates two grade II listed buildings that formed part of St Peter's School, constructed 40 years apart in the early 19th century by the ironmaster's sister in his memory. These have been renovated from a derelict condition to provide a cafe, reception area, exhibition space and art gallery that overlook the nearby Coity Mountain.

Most of the money to regenerate the area came from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Heads of the Valleys Programme, with contributions from Visit Wales and Cadw. Recognition for the centre soon followed. Presenting an award from the Royal Society of Architects in Wales in June, Welsh secretary Paul Murphy described Purcell Miller Tritton's design as "a charming intervention of glass, concrete, steel and timber".

He added: "It squeezes between two historic school buildings before bursting out across the old playground to celebrate framed views over the town and across the valley.". A second award followed - the gold medal for architecture from the Eisteddfod was presented during the festival last month.

In the main shopping area of the town, the buildings all serve as a reminder of what was a flourishing, vibrant and prosperous south Wales industrial community. Further afield can be found the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal and the Brecon Beacons national park. As a modern facility at a world heritage site, the visitor centre should help ensure a future for Blaenavon as a major tourist attraction.