The Boathouse

Metaphor was delighted to work with Edward King and the staff of the Lakeland Arts Trust on this masterplan for a new destination and museum at the site of the original Windermere Steamboat Museum. Our report puts forward a big vision for this new experience, mapping out the vision in physical terms across the Windermere Steamboat Museum site, identifying potential partnerships, and considering the operational implications of running it.  

At the heart of this project is a collection of lake-going boats, the majority of which are steam-driven and date from the nineteenth-century when a number of wealthy families with houses around the lake built themselves pleasure crafts to go out on the water. It is these boats that were on display in the museum’s earlier incarnation, the Windermere Steamboat Museum, and that will form the core of the museum’s offering at its new and beautiful intended site.