King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

KING’S GATE CAERNARFON CASTLE

Buttress

ARCHITECTS
Buttress

INTERPRETATION CONSULTANT
Hotrod Creations

ARCHITECTURAL ASSISTANT
Seb Chambers

MANUFACTURERS
Accoya, Pilkington, Ash, Sheridan Lifts

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Mann Williams

M&E CONSULTANT
Silcock Leedham

QUANTITY SURVEYOR
Sp Projects

MAIN CONTRACTOR
Grosvenor Construction

OVERALL PROJECT LEAD
Stephen Anderson

LEAD PROJECT ARCHITECT
Lucy Ashcroft

SENIOR TECHNOLOGIST
Alex Scrimshaw

HERITAGE CONSULTANT
Jenna Johnston

PHOTOGRAPHS
Daniel Hopkinson

AREA
1260 m²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
United Kingdom

CATEGORY
Restoration

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

Buttress has completed work on the three-year-long program of conservation and enhancement works at Caernarfon Castle for Cadw.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

The principal gatehouse, King’s Gate, will now allow visitors to access certain areas of the medieval gatehouse for the first time in centuries.

Caernarfon Castle and its associated walled town have played a significant part in the history of Wales and the rest of the UK for much of the last millennium.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

The castle is among the most iconic monuments in the UK and became one of Wales’s first World Heritage Sites in 1986.

The project is sited at the castle’s monumental front gatehouse, which forms part of the popular upper-level wall walk, which had previously not been accessible to all.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

Delivered for Cadw – the Welsh government's historic environment service – the £5 million project has aimed to advance the visitor experience and enhance understanding of the site by improving the visitor offer, especially for those with limited ability to access certain areas.

This has involved the introduction of a new layer of architecture to the medieval building in the form of bespoke pieces of ‘furniture’ that sit on top of and within the triple-towered gatehouse.

Designed to form the negative of the building the structure and architectural features have been created to be physically separate from the castle walls, only touching the building lightly at access points to minimize the impact on the significant historic site.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

Internally, three new floors of accommodation have been created, housing accessible toilets with changing places, a café, a gift shop, a reception area, staff facilities, storage, and new and immersive interpretation areas that tell the story of the people who built the castle.

On the upper level, the architectural forms emerge from the towers below to create a viewing deck with seating areas, allowing visitors to take in views across the castle complex and beyond.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

Access to the deck is provided via a glazed lift, which enables visitors of all abilities to access this part of the castle for the first time in its history.

It is also believed the first-time that level of access has been provided in any similar UK World Heritage Site.

All new interventions consist of prefabricated units and hand-crafted, bespoke carpentry that can be inserted into and removed from the building with minimal impact on the existing structure.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson

The detail and quality of the materials have been used to celebrate it as the grand gatehouse and high-status entrance to the castle, whilst reflecting the unfinished nature of the site through clearly contemporary additions.

Alongside this, careful conservation work including, masonry cleaning, vegetation removal, repointing, and window tracery repairs, has been carried out to the gatehouse itself and adjoining walls to help to protect the medieval structure for generations to come.

King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson


King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
© Daniel Hopkinson


King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
Floor plan
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
Floor plan
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
Floor plan
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
Floor plan
King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
Floor plan


King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
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King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
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King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
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King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
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King’s Gate Caernarfon Castle
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