Ickworth, a National Trust property near Bury St Edmunds, is an Italianate house built in 1795 by the eccentric 4th Earl of Bristol to display his European treasures. The grand composition centres on a rotunda, flanked by symmetrical links to the East and West Wings. While the East Wing was used as a residence, the West Wing remained largely incomplete for over two centuries.

Hopkins Architects were commissioned to adapt the  West Wing to accommodate Ickworth’s growing visitor numbers. The former reception, café and shop previously located in the rotunda were relocated, allowing that space to be fully re-stored to its original splendour.

Two new floors were inserted within the West Wing. Visitors now enter through an existing doorway into a reception and information area, leading to a shop and a restaurant overlooking the walled garden via the Orangery.

Above, a generous events hall hosts performances and gatherings, while a lower ground level, accessible from the garden, houses an education suite, main kitchen, storage and staff facilities.

The design retains the character of the existing brick walls and timber trusses, leaving them unadorned to preserve their historic integrity. New elements such as barrel-vaulted precast concrete panels forming the restaurant ceiling, and finely crafted timber screens, are deliberately contemporary, creating a clear dialogue between old and new.

This sensitive intervention provides modern visitor facilities while respecting the architectural legacy of one of Suffolk’s most distinctive historic houses.