The transformation of a famous former prison into a visitor centre and 63-bedroom hotel is making tracks in Bodmin, Cornwall.
A team consisting of Sarner International, Twelve Architects, Montagu Evans, Arup, Turner & Townsend and Astute Fire was put together to change of use of the Grade II-listed building and propose new designs, as well as reinvent the guest experience to better cater to the modern visitor.
Cornwall Council will now review Mallino Development’s planning application and decide whether to approve the hotel and extension plans.
According to Sarner, the cell blocks will be converted into hotel accommodation and museum space, while a Dark Walk experience – including a state-of-the-art immersive theatre – will take guests on an interactive journey through the prison’s storied past, plunging them into what life was like inside a Bodmin Moor jail some 200 years ago.
The attraction itself is expected to cost £12m of the £30m wider scheme. It’s expected to open by 2019.
Bodmin Jail was built in 1779 and operated through to 1927, hosting 50 public hangings during that time. The prison complex, most of it now in ruins, has been used as a site for ghost walks and other visitor activities and exhibitions for a number of years.
