Bids due in for Ellisland Museum and Farm job by 24 January
The farm where Scottish national poet Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne is looking for a conservation architect to design a “nationally significant” restoration of the site.
The Ellisland Museum and Farm is asking design teams to send in bids for the £7m scheme north of Dumfries, which is called “Saving the Home of Auld Lang Syne”.
Burns purchased the farm in 1788 and wrote the song, which is sung across the English speaking world on New Year’s Eve, at the property in December that year.
The poet, who is celebrated each year in Scotland on Burns night on 27 January, stayed at the farm for three years before leaving in 1791.
Most of the buildings at the site which he constructed were later dismantled, except the farmhouse, which remains largely in its original condition.
The museum said it is looking for a multi-disciplinary design team led by a conservation architect for the eight month contract, valued at £170,000.
Work will include designing the scheme up to RIBA stage three, with further design stages up to stage six included in the contract with a break clause but dependent on funding.
The museum was recently awarded £490,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the development stage of the project, which it said will support the appointment of architects and the launch of a major international fundraising campaign to complete the scheme.
The job will include fully restoring a 1788 cottage to the state in which it was in when Burns moved in with his new wife Jane Armour, developing a new exhibition space for the museum’s collection, and transforming a barn on the site into a “Centre for Song”.
Teams have until 24 January to send in bids, with invitations to tender to be sent out on 31 January.
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