King Richard III Visitor Centre wins Design Excellence Award – Latest

King Richard III Visitor Centre has received a Design Excellence Award at the East Midlands Property Awards Dinner.

Following the extraordinary discovery of King Richard III in a Leicester car park Leicester City Council commissioned the design of a major new visitors centre for the city to provide an extraordinary visitor experience telling the story of the Dynasty, Death and Discovery of King Richard III.

This archaeologically sensitive site required impeccable care with the positioning of the substructure works. The building footprints had to be designed in such a way so as to avoid the historic ruins of the cathedral walls as well as a number of burial chambers.

The burial enclosure has been designed as a column-less structure with the top clerestory windows acting as structural elements to provide the illusion that the roof structure is floating. Glass floors are proposed for the grave enclosure, which enables visitors to stand directly over the site where Richard III remains were found.