An aviation museum and nature reserve in Dunsfold, Surrey, to display Dunsfold's rich wartime and post war aviation history.
“We rescue items from our wartime heritage;
We educate future generations about our aviation heritage;
We restore original World War Two memorabilia, airframes & engines;
We raise memorials to fallen airmen throughout Europe;
We recover WW2 aircraft for display & preservation.”
Located on land formerly occupied by the 98th Squadron, the Wings museum sits on the periphery of Dunsfold Aerodrome. Constructed by Canadian forces in 1942, the visible remnants of former dispersal pads, radio sheds and ammunition stores as well as the adjacent operating runway serve as reminders of this on-going aviation heritage.
Having played a significant role in the WWII bomber campaign and the repatriation of Allied prisoners of war through ‘Operation Exodus’, Dunsfold Aerodrome was later occupied by Skyways, Hawker Aircraft and British Aerospace. The Wings museum continues this lineage of aircraft-orientated research and repair on the site.
The design draws on the language and scale of the surrounding hangar structures and agricultural forms that continue to and would have formerly occupied the site. Exhibition halls at both ends of the museum allow for the display of large airframes.
Integral to both the work of Wings Museum and the history of the site, the workshops of the proposed museum revive Dunsfold aerodrome as a centre of aviation repair. At the heart of the scheme, the exhibition workshops represent the vital work of the Wings museum in preserving this history whilst allowing members of the public to witness the restoration and preservation processes of WWII aircraft.
The proposed form is elevated from the existing ground plane, to offer sight-lines through the museum to landscape on the opposite side. Following the topography of the land, internally the glazed plinth slowly reveals the nature reserve, creating a ‘hide’ like experience of the historic airfield landscape.
Externally, proposed paths follow routes of former taxi ways whilst revealing a newly crafted historic-nature reserve landscape. A boardwalk aligns to the geometries of Dunsfold’s runways and former dispersal pads are revealed and utilised for external exhibitions.