A ground breaking new museum project involving a partnership between the National Maritime Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Science Museum and Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust.

The project recovered one of the South East’s most historic and significant industrial maritime buildings, the 19th Century No.1 Smithery building at The Historic Dockyard, and converted it into a multi-faceted treasure house. 
 
In readiness for the restoration and conservation, an emergency stabilisation project was carried out to make the building safe and weather tight. A high degree of quality control and management was required to ensure a dry and safe environment for the national collections. We supervised and managed the construction phase, including a full underground archaeological investigation, pile probing and erection of the new elements. At a critical stage of the project, the main contractor went into administration, but with a predetermined contingency plan, Appleyards were able to appoint a competitively sourced completion contractor, resolve title issues, and ensure that the project could be delivered to the original opening date to the public, within budget.

The No.1 Smithery museum accommodates a series of high tech display galleries, exhibition spaces and education areas, and opened in July 2010, providing exciting educational facilities for visitors of all ages.