Memorial Gardens
R G Carter were awarded the project to refurbish the Norwich Market, then later the high profile project to refurbish the Memorial Gardens in front of Norwich City Hall in Norwich as part of the NPS framework.
The Market Place renewal consisted of a purchasing group consisting of representatives of R G Carter, the Council, the design team and a selection of market stall holders evaluated the products and services on offer from a number of specialist suppliers of off-site manufactured market stalls, and having chosen the successful bidder, from a criteria balancing the project requirements relating to time, cost and quality, the team completed a further evaluation process to maximise the practicality of the units and design out any faults.
This resulted in the ongoing supply and standardised units for the construction phase of the project that were easy to construct and install on site, whilst being aesthetically pleasing, functional and economical to maintain.
Our project knowledge, together with early design progression enabled the site programme to be significantly reduced, with exceptional quality being maintained through best practice on site, all within a clearly defined and restricted budget.
Works then began on the Norwich Memorial Gardens, the Grade II listed site had been closed for over six years while Norwich City Council sought funds for its restoration. It closed late in 2004 when engineers discovered defects in its supporting structure. It was a sad state that dismayed locals and visitors alike including many Americans – who have connections with wartime in Norwich.
Lifting the main memorial from its plinth revealed two copper boxes, one known to contain the names of military personnel who died in the First World War and the other thought of honour those for the last war. The memorial is on a prominent site between city hall and the market. Its sloping location saw R G Carter adopt a different approach itself, literally preparing to dig in the start of its 13 month campaign. A particular change is movement from each pressures during construction with city hall sitting above the memorial on a sloping site, this had to be handled carefully.