LONDON.- The new Mary Rose Museum that opened 31 May 2013 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Pringle Brandon Perkins + Wills has won both the Civic Trust Award and the Michael Middleton Special Award.

This prestigious award is a memorial and tribute to Michael Middleton CBE, who established the Civic Trust Awards in 1959 and is awarded to a restoration project or new build within a conservation area.

The Mary Rose Museum houses the hull of the Mary Rose warship, commissioned by Henry VIII in 1510, as well as many thousands of the artefacts that were retrieved from the Solent’s seabed 437 years after she sank. The iconic new building reunites the ship with its original contents and crew, creating a building and interior that both protects and showcases the Mary Rose to enhance the visitor experience.

The Museum building, designed from the inside-out, uses the form and elements of the historic ship to create a unique visitor experience. The original hull is contained within a carefully controlled environment alongside a virtual port-side hull created on three levels exhibiting the largest hoard of Tudor artefacts in the world. This 21st century building nestles comfortably within the historic area of the dockyard and epitomises Michael Middleton’s philosophy of good practice in conservation areas, ensuring the wellbeing of historic towns and cities.

The Civic Trust Awards were set up to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. The 55th Annual Civic Trust Awards Ceremony was held on Friday 7th March at Blackpool Winter Gardens and attended by Robert Lapraik, Deputy Chief Executive of The Mary Rose Trust.

Robert Lapraik said, “It was a privilege to represent the Mary Rose Trust at the Civic Trust Awards. We are all incredibly proud of our museum and it is fantastic to get recognition for this wonderful building. We would like to thank our architects, Wilkinson Eyre and Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will for designing such a fitting home in which to display these wonderful objects and where they can tell the fascinating stories of the men on board.”

The new Mary Rose Museum opened on 31st May 2013. The ship, Henry VIII’s favourite warship, was constructed in Portsmouth in 1510, not far from its current location of No.3 Dock in Portsmouth’s Naval Base. The ship tragically sunk in the Battle of the Solent against the French in 1545, where only 35 of over 500 crew were known to survive. In 1982 she was brought to the surface after 400 years on the sea bed. The ship has gradually been undergoing extensive conservation, which continues to this day. The custom-built museum is designed to show the hull of the ship with her precious cargo of artefacts to the public, offering a fascinating insight into life on board a Tudor warship. The ship is now in its final stage of conservation, and new discoveries in maritime conservation and research are still being made. The Mary Rose has become integral to residents in Portsmouth, including the first divers who discovered the Mary Rose, to the scientists who are resident at the Museum today and the local volunteers who work at the Museum.