17 January 2019
Designs produced by leading architects Foster + Partners for the Mullin Automotive Park to be built on one end of Enstone Airfield have been submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council for planning permission.
“The Mullin Automotive Park will be a unique cultural destination set in Cotswold countryside, that seeks to support the wider community as well as providing a special experience for classic automobile collectors,” said Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners.
Designs for the Mullin Automotive Park at Enstone Airfield have been submitted to the West Oxfordshire District Council for planning permission. The submission outlines proposals for a world-class automotive museum in the heart of the British countryside: https://t.co/tCuNwmyXmJ pic.twitter.com/qhhNM7wuv4
— Foster + Partners (@FosterPartners) January 15, 2019
Peter Mullin, founder and man behind the Mullin Automotive Park, added: “By any conventional measure this will not just be another car museum. We have had the automobile for just over a century, but my great grandchildren will probably never drive a motor car – at least not as we know it. Instead they will travel in secure autonomous pods controlled by a computer.
“The Mullin Automotive Park will tell the powerful story of the automobile and its role in shaping our societies.”
The Mullin Automotive Park will be built at one end of the runway of Enstone Airfield. Images: Foster + Partners
Foster + partners says the design “draws inspiration from the idea of a rural estate, a journey through a carefully considered landscape towards the main building that forms an integral part of the overall experience for visitors”.
A small cluster of workshop type buildings with visitor facilities including the ticket office and café are located at the entrance of the site. From here, visitors can walk to the museum at the heart of the site, nestled within the landscape.
The automotive park also features roads that are especially designed for ‘exercising’ cars from the Mullin collection. The proposals also include a series of residential pavilions and landscaped lodges.
While some in the area support the project for the economic benefits it may bring, there are also many objections such as increased traffic on unsuitable roads.
The flying activity at Enstone Airfield will continue although reservations have been expressed about the wisdom of having a car park underneath the runway approach.
1 comment
It is not necessarily all bad because some petrol head visitors to the proposed museum may have their interest in aviation piqued by the airport next door.
I do not see a car park under the runway approach in these drawings. The drawings show cars parked at the centre of the arc of the crescent although that provision does not appear sufficient.
It would be sensible for someone, on behalf of the airport, to make representations at the hearing before the development committee and explain the importance of a condition prohibiting any construction and/or car parking under the runway approach.