Case Study: Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum, Dorchester
About Shire Hall
Shire Hall is an 18th-century civic building in Dorchester, which served as Dorset’s county courthouse from 1797 until 1955 and is now a visitor attraction and museum.
Designed by architect Thomas Hardwick, Shire Hall is one of the best-preserved buildings of its kind in the UK, and was Grade I listed in 1950 in recognition of its exceptional architectural significance. Behind a neoclassical façade in Portland stone, a number of original internal features remain, including the original dock, bench, jury boxes, and galleries of the courtroom, as well as vaulted brick cells. The social history of the Shire Hall is also of particular significance, such as the 1834 trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs as well as the domestic abuse case in 1865 that inspired Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’.
In 2018, the building was comprehensively refurbished and adapted to become the Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum. The site now includes exhibition and event spaces, a café, and two private residential flats.
The Decarbonisation Plan
The Decarbonisation Plan was commissioned in the context of growing financial pressures and an ambition to diversify use of the building to increase revenue generation and support long-term resilience. The building also has poor levels of thermal comfort and some areas of deterioration and moisture accumulation associated with building services that are not functioning as originally intended.
The key aims of the Decarbonisation study were to:
- Gain a better understanding of the performance of the existing building and its service systems.
- Address defects and deficiencies in the existing systems and fabric.
- Identify opportunities to reduce energy demand; improve energy efficiency and transition towards low or net zero carbon services.
- Improve thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality, including increased control of environmental conditions for occupants.
- Reduce energy bills wherever possible, to help with ongoing financial constraints
- Increase the intensity of use of the building in order to generate further revenue to secure the long-term resilience of the organisation.
The case study addressed both the challenges and opportunities facing the organisation, providing a strategic review of the building’s history, significance, fabric, and services, before appraising potential options for energy-saving interventions. The surveys and assessments were used to underpin and guide the development of a forward plan for implementing appropriate decarbonisation measures.