Tender Instructions and Information September 2010
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Tender Instructions and Information September 2010 Published by Menter Mon On behalf of the Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust CONTENTS Page Number A. Project Background (1-5) 2 B. Budget (6) 4 C. Objectives for the Interpretation (7-16) 4 D. Audience Research (17-21) 8 E. Interpretation Requirements (22-31) 9 F. Selection Process and Deadlines (32-43) 10 ANNEX ANNEX A: Pricing Schedule ANNEX B: References ANNEX C: Tender Submission Receipt 1 Invitation to Tender Brief to Consultants For: Copper Bin Interpretation for Copper Kingdom Project A Project Background 1. The project is to design and produce an interpretive experience to tell the story of Amlwch’s Copper Mining heritage and promote the internationally significant archaeology of Parys Mountain. This is to take the form of an exhibition covering the social history of Amlwch and working life in the mines, the prehistoric and industrial archaeology of the mountain and the unique geological and environmental nature of the mines. 2. Housing this exhibition is to be the main function of the Copper Bin, a historic building in Porth Amlwch being renovated for the purpose under the Anglesey Three Towns Physical Regeneration scheme and funding from Welsh Assembly Government. The interpretation to be housed inside is being commissioned by the Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust. The Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust (AIHT) is a registered charity formed in 1996. Its goals are the preservation of the area’s industrial heritage, the promotion of research into the area’s history and geology and the economic regeneration of the area through tourist development of these resources. 3. Once work is completed the Copper Bin will form a significant part of the Copper Kingdom tourist destination which also includes: • The Sail Loft: A cafe and visitor centre two minutes walk from the Copper Bin which will focus on the community’s maritime heritage. Currently the Sail Loft is the Copper Kingdom’s only visitor centre and houses exhibitions on both the maritime and the mining heritage. 2 • The Watch Tower: Also within easy walking distance of the Copper Bin, the Watch tower is being developed by GeoMon as a visitor centre to promote Anglesey’s status as a European Geopark. • Parys Mountain: The exotic landscape left behind by copper mining is presented to the public through a heritage trail and guided tours. The mountain currently attracts 21,000 visits per year. 4. The production of this exhibition forms part of an HLF project to conserve and present the important mining heritage of Amlwch for the benefit of the local community and visitors to Anglesey. In the next year works financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund will see restoration work to historic structures and access improvements on the mountain and the provision of interpretation. The HLF documentation also includes an Interpretation Plan which proposes a number of ICT components such as the creation of a detailed 3D Virtual model of Parys Mountain and underground mines, as conceived by the Trust and Technium CAST. This computer model currently forms a major component of our proposal for interpretation on the mountain as well as in the Copper Bin and the interpreters chosen will need to work with AIHT and partners in order to fully explore the viability of incorporating such a model into the exhibition. The HLF funded programme of activities also includes skills training for local people in a number of relevant areas and an oral history project. 5. The landscape of Amlwch and Parys Mountain is a designated Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest and the Copper Kingdom visitor destination aims to encourage public understanding and appreciation of this landscape, so much of which stems from the copper ores of the mountain. The landscape area includes the mountain and its mines, Amlwch Port, the townscape of Amlwch and the rural area between Amlwch and the mountain. 3 B. Budget 6. The outline budget for design and production of the exhibits is in the range £200,000 to £250,000 excluding VAT. The exhibition space has been calculated as approximately 266 square meters. C. Objectives for the Interpretation 7. Learning objective 1: Visitors should be left understanding that the landscape of Parys Mountain is man-made and how this came about through the geology and mining. 8. Learning objective 2: Visitors should understand the links between copper mining and the maritime heritage of Amlwch and why they are both covered by the Copper Kingdom project. 9. Emotional Objective 1: Visitors should be able to empathise with mine workers and appreciate how hard their work was and how their personal fortunes depended on the unpredictable yield of the mountain rock. 10. Emotional Objective 2: Visitors should feel impressed by the achievements of Amlwch workers in reshaping the landscape through their industrial activity on and within the mountain. 11. Behavioural Objective 1: Visitors should be motivated to visit (or revisit) Parys Mountain and to explore other sites in the designated Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest. 12. Target Visitor Numbers: In order for the Copper Kingdom project to be financially viable visitor numbers to the Copper Bin must exceed 30,000 per year. Admission to the Copper Bin displays will be charged at £2.95 per adult with concessions available. 4 Overall Theme 13. The interpretive theme for the exhibition is that ‘The lunar landscape of Parys Mountain is a monument to the thousands of people whose lives and fortunes were shaped by the search for copper ore’. All exhibits should in some way contribute to developing this theme in visitor’s minds Historic background 14. Mynydd Parys was first mined for copper ore during the Bronze Age and there is indirect evidence of copper mining there during the Roman occupation of Britain. The main period of mining occurred though after the discovery of a large deposit of easily accessible ore in 1768. Parys Mountain became the world’s leading copper mine in the 1780s and was the foundation of Thomas Williams’ copper monopoly which controlled world prices of the metal at a time when it was crucial to Britain’s naval power and the slave trade. As a result of the large workforce required at the mines the small fishing village of Amlwch became the largest town in North Wales and second only to Merthyr Tydfil nationally. 15. Mine workers pay was dependent on the amount of ore they found and they had to pay for their own equipment and explosives, which meant that an unlucky miner could work all day and only end up in debt to unscrupulous mine agents. Mining was carried out initially by numerous shallow shafts and then by opencast methods creating the Great Opencast and Hillside Opencast that dominate the mountain today, then in later years by deep underground mining. Copper was also extracted from the mountain by precipitation and the precipitation ponds are a major feature of the relict landscape on the mountain. 16. Amlwch Port developed in response to the mine’s output and the demand for Copper and this is the crucial link between the area’s industrial and maritime heritages. The decline of the mines prompted a decline in the fortunes of the town. Riots occurred in the town in 1816 5 over the price of food at a time of low employment in the mines and on the mountain in 1863 over the use of Cornish workers in the mine. The Building The Copper Bin was once one of a row of structures used to store ore from the mines before being shipped out to be sold on or smelted. The row of Copper bins on the east harbour side were each filled from the street above through a chute in the roof. The proposals for Amlwch Copper Bins have been carefully developed to create an optimum balance between conservation and modern improvements to the Port. Past damage will be undone through conservative repair and creative reuse of the existing Copper Bins as a new Visitor Centre. As part of the design, an authentic interpretation of the important history at Amlwch will be portrayed through integrating key historic features. The complex seeks to enliven the quayside and provides an improved tourist offer with retail space, exhibition space and artefact display, and multi functional space with the capacity for a 3D cinema screen. Circulation spaces are generous to ensure movement through the building is easy for all. Café and support facilities will be provided by The Sail Loft and The Watchtower nearby, enhancing the Port site as a whole and safeguarding the quayside building fabric for future generations. Historically, the Copper bins were built on an excavated rock surface at quay level, and the copper ore delivered from Parys Mountain to Pen Cei above the bins by cart. From Pen Cei, the ore was poured down to the bins below through large timber chutes. The ore would then be collected be taken across the world by ship. There is only one roofed Copper Bin still intact, and one timber chute. The Visitor Centre’s circulation respects and exposes the rock face to the back of the bins as a main feature. The evoked feeling inside next to the rock face is intended to give the visitor an experience of going down the mine workings at Parys Mountain. The two new modern timber ‘pods’ will break the mass of the bins and penetrate through the roof to provide essential circulatory shafts which mimic the timber chutes as historically utilised for distributing the ore. The extension within the adjoining copper bin will respect the mass and form of its neighbour; the main copper bin.