The Story at Mount Oswald

The Story brings together five of Durham County Council’s collections in a sustainable service at Mount Oswald manor house, a Grade II 19th-century listed building. Creating space for exhibitions, educational facilities, a café, and an area for volunteers, the building showcases the estate of County Durham and provides the ideal environment for storing these records, with a modern extension.

Our team designed a sustainable plan that retained the building’s character by reusing as many original materials as possible, including timber flooring and stone walls. Structural integrity was ensured through various crack-stitching techniques on the original masonry and by interweaving old timber with new. To minimise the use of new materials and maintain the building façade, only individually damaged stone was replaced.

Stuart Mark, Associate, commented, “The refurbishment of the Grade II listed building required frequent site inspections and opening up works to establish structural arrangements and condition. We encountered many defects, some due to deterioration but many due to poor quality in the original build. We worked with the contractor to establish typical repair details and ensure that all defective areas were appropriately repaired to ensure the building is fit for its proposed use.”