The Past living in the Present

The key themes of this project and unit was to assess the effects that manmade structures have on the environment and community around them. The project involves a retrofit of an abandoned hospital building in Merthyr Tydfil, it is through four different interventions in the process of ruination that I address the question of how harmonising the past and present can create a better relationship between nature and the manmade.

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in the south of Wales. A key part of the industrial revolution with four of the biggest ironworks in the world. Merthyr has a complicated connection to its history, and often the town finds it easier to reinvent itself than retain its history. The site of St. Tydfil’s hospital just up from the high street of Merthyr, is a now a ruined location that is perfect for redevelopment. With strong historical connections a retrofitting of the building can preserve both the environment and community heritage.

A Living Museum is for the forgotten history of Merthyr. The heritage that is
often destroyed needs to be respected, which can take place through different methods of conservation, preservation, restoration, and renovation. By creating a stronger tether of modern Merthyr to its past, the story of Merthyr Tydfil will be enriched by the presence of the modern town providing historical depth which is needed in this uninspiring town.

The story of Merthyr will be told throughout this Living Museum in the architectural choices made in the interventions to the ruins of St. Tydfil’s Hospital. To ensure that this history is kept and not forgotten, there needs to be life in the museum to carry the histories that are not able to be conventionally archived.