Ptolemy Dean Architects, which specialises in conservation work to historic buildings, has been named overall winner of the competition to restore and transform the Grade II*-listed Tudor complex, which was home to the artist Cedric Morris and his lifelong partner, the artist Arthur Lett-Haines.
The other finalists were: IFDO Architects with Donald Insall Associates; Sanchez Benton Architects with Julian Harrap Architects; Cowper Griffith Architects; Purcell; and Thomas Ford and Partners.
Morris established the acclaimed East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in the building and a major botanical collection in the garden. The complex is now owned by the Garden Museum.
The project, planned to complete in 2031, will transform Benton End into a new inclusive and accessible arts and learning centre. Key aims include restoring the historic house and gardens while introducing new learning, exhibition, residential and visitor facilities.
Proposals to redevelop the site will be expected to embed accessibility, sustainability and operational resilience while respecting the site’s artistic, horticultural and queer heritage.
Ptolemy Dean Architects said the practice was ‘delighted’ to have been appointed for the next phases of the project ‘having been lucky enough to have been involved in the preparation of the initial feasibility study for Benton End’.
A spokesperson added: ‘With the brief for Benton End having now been thoughtfully developed by the Garden Museum and given careful consideration to determine exactly how the house and garden can be best developed to perform in a sustainable and economically viable way, there is now a much more deeply considered piece of work to be undertaken, which we are grateful to be a part of.
‘The gardens have been and continue to be transformed by the careful re-discovery of lost or overgrown features from the Cedric Morris/Arthur Lett-Haines era and on the house and supporting buildings there needs to be a similar emphasis placed on regaining the more ephemeral qualities that need to be rediscovered and established.
‘This is the Benton End that is sought by reading between the lines of the formal brief. Glimpses of this tantalising Benton End can be seen in surviving photographs of rooms and exterior places that made Benton End such a magical place.’
The statement continued: ‘Creating public uses within domestic property without destroying the very qualities that make them attractive, authentic and valuable in the first place lies at the heart of this project.
‘The overwhelming impression that might be experienced after these works have been achieved would be to have created a house and garden that Morris and Lett-Hianes have momentarily left, so that visitors and users can immediately grasp and soak up in an atmosphere of a particular moment of time and creativity. We look forward to helping this remarkable house move into its new life.’
Established in 1977, the Garden Museum is based inside a deconsecrated London church, which contains the tombs of 17th-century royal gardeners John Tradescant the Elder and the Younger in its churchyard and was formerly threatened with demolition. Between 2008 and 2017, Dow Jones completed a phased overhaul of the complex and created a new extension.
The latest appointment comes two years after Mary Duggan Architects was awarded planning permission for a competition-winning horticultural pavilion at the Garden Museum, which occupies Lambeth’s Grade II*-listed former St Mary’s Church and is next door to the Grade I-listed Lambeth Palace and Reginald Blomfield’s Grade II-listed Lambeth Bridge.
Originally built in the early 16th century, Benton End is a historic homestead which became the home of artist and gardener Cedric Morris and the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing.
The latest project focuses on the conservation-led adaptation of the Hadleigh site into a public-facing cultural destination linked to the Garden Museum’s wider heritage programme.
The winning multidisciplinary design team will advance the through project its development phase and will then, subject to funding and performance, also complete the delivery phase.
The restored complex will feature learning and workshop rooms, museum-standard exhibition and interpretive spaces, a permanent display room for high-value artworks, five or six en-suite bedrooms, upgraded welfare and office accommodation, commercial visitor facilities and improved access across the house and grounds.
Benton End, Hadleigh
Source: Image by Ngoc Minh Ngo
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