Purcell fronts museum for shoemaking with zigzagging brick facade in Somerset

A faceted brick extension links a manor house and a 17th-century barn to form the Shoemakers Museum in Somerset, England, designed by UK studio Purcell.

Commissioned by local charity Alfred Gillett Trust, the museum houses collections of fossils and displays on shoemaking, including the history of shoe retailer Clarks, which was founded locally in the village of Street 200 years ago.

A brick extension that is fronted by a colonnade connects a renovated 16th-century manor house and 17th-century barn, forming an L-shaped layout around a lawn.

Gallery spaces dedicated to shoes are located in the two-storey brick extension, while fossil collections are found in the renovated barn. A cafe and offices are located in the updated manor house.

The upper portion of the Shoemakers Museum extension has a zigzagging exterior with corbelled brickwork – a technique that incorporates protusions and recesses – crafted by local bricklayer PJ Cook.

This decorative facade was designed as a nod to the sawtooth roof of Clark's former factory and design elements seen in Clarks shoes, such as perforations and zigzagging fabric edges.

"We translated Clarks' design language through delicate brick detailing – perforations like brogues, projections echoing visible stitching, pinked edges referenced in the stepped corbelling," Purcell architect Alasdair Ferguson told Dezeen.

"It creates depth and character whilst referencing the craft and quality of what's inside."

Purcell's design for the Shoemakers Museum aimed to celebrate the subject matter of its collections – shoes and fossils – as well as the history of Street.

Blue Lias limestone, which contains fossil traces, was used to construct portions of the museum walls, around 70 per cent of which was salvaged from the site.

"It was a brilliant brief – designing a shoe and fossil museum that stitches together two very different listed buildings while creating something architecturally distinctive," said Ferguson.

"This museum reconnects Street to its heritage with a building that celebrates it," he continued. "Each material grounds the building in its context while telling the story of place, making and craft."

"It's a home for the stories of generations who made those shoes, giving the community a place to honour their heritage crafted over two hundred years."

Other projects completed by Purcell include the renovation of London's National Portrait Gallery and the restoration of the Elizabeth Tower, which was shortlisted for the 2025 Stirling Prize.

The photography is by Nick Guttridge.

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