Shoemakers Museum | Wet Cast Stone | Vobster Architectural

Shoemakers Museum, Street

Overview

Set in the grounds of Street’s popular shopping outlet Clarks Village, the recently opened Shoemakers Museum is a historically significant tourist attraction that showcases the stories and heritage behind Clarks shoes - a staple of Somerset industry and culture over the last 200 years.

For this project, the finest materials were required to create a visually interesting facade that is both durable and in keeping with the architectural language of the area. Vobster Architectural worked with architect Purcell and contractor Rigg Construction (Southern) Ltd to supply the wet cast stone, which was specified as a premium product to complement the structure’s existing natural stonework.

Concept to Completion

The site of the Shoemakers Museum is steeped in history. Aside from its connection to the shoemaking industry, its first recorded mention was in the Doomsday Book in 1086. For this reason, part of the design brief was to sensitively reimagine heritage in new ways – staying true to the history of the site whilst creating a structure that is innovative and fit for modern use. The building interior comprises galleries that showcase a collection of fossils and more than 25,000 shoes through the ages, as well as a café, support spaces and a public learning area.

The site is made up of two structures of differing design languages, which are connected by new link buildings. The architect chose to specify folded brick with a playful edge and projected headers across the facade of the museum, emulating the intricate stitching detail of a child’s shoe in homage to the site’s former use.

Wet cast stone was chosen for the large window surrounds, structural columns with heads, and copings to the main roof area of the museum. It was selected due to its premium appearance, but also due to the need to make the columns structural in nature. Steel cages were manufactured at Vobster Architectural’s local Radstock facility and incorporated into the columns, allowing them to take the weight of the head pieces above, minimising joints and eliminating the need for a steel frame.

This project was particularly interesting for us, as we can see the artisanal craftmanship that we value so highly in the making of our cast stone reflected in the historic processes that have gone into making shoes through the generations.

We were particularly excited to use our expertise to create the structural columns for the museum which take the weight of the head pieces above - this presented an exciting challenge!

Aaron Cummings, Director at Vobster Architectural

Aside from its reputation for supplying high quality masonry products, Vobster Architectural was chosen to supply the Shoemakers Museum scheme due to its proximity to the site – located just a 45-minute drive away. Engaging local suppliers was an important part of this project, giving a nod to the local industry that Clarks has been part of for so many years.