The existing

RAF Bempton
bunker in
Yorkshire, UK
is built into a
cliff-side and
would be be
transformed
into a
museum
celebrating
the role of
women during
war.
The bunker
would be dug
out in areas to
reveal its
three metre-
thick walls
and create a
series of
courtyards
open to the
air.
A glazed roof
over one
section would
have water
flowing over it
and down a
wall etched
with the
names of
pivotal
women from
past wars.
Part of the
bunker would
protrude out
of the cliff to
create a
viewing
platform over
the sea.
“Situated within a
unique cliff side location
in Bempton lies the RAF
Bempton bunker.
Disintegrating and of
great historical interest,
it is proposed the site
will be sensitively
renovated and reclaimed.

‘Women . War . Peace’

will be a new and
exciting war museum
with the pure focus of
Women and War.
Journeying through the
exhibition will illustrate
the compassion,
realism, horrors and
bravery seen and felt
through the eyes of
women during war time,
both on the front-line
and behind the scenes.
This museum
interrogates the
creativity of learning
through emotional and
experiential spaces and
details.
By breaking out of
the bunker from it’s
central pit space, the
architectural
language conveys
the juxtaposition
between the
protective shell of
the bunker and it’s
contrasting
dangerous subject
matter. Through this
process the bunker’s
thick 3.3 metre walls
are revealed and with
this, external
underground
courtyards are
created, allowing for
pause and
contemplation
throughout the
experience. The
whole experience will
be of constant
enlightenment, with
natural light
increasingly
puncturing
underground and
views being
progressively
exposed.
The bunker
accommodates four
main stages, Past,
Present, Reflection and
Remembrance;
Past. The main
Exhibition Space is
located within and
around the bunker with
the focused narrative
being of the two
different stories of
‘Women at War’
(situated within the
bunkers walls) and
‘Women at Home’
(breaking out of the
bunker to create new
spaces). This gives the
idea of the Women at
Home being ‘Behind
the Scenes’ and
supporting the Women
at War.
This experience will house the stories of Women from 1914 to 2000 through interactive stations, silo spaces
and archived resources with the experience being of an intimate nature. At the heart of the exhibition is an
interactive time line structure which contains an immersive eerie environment within it’s walls reminding the
visitor of ‘absence’. This structure is impertive as a collective point and a place to delve deeper into the
information.
Present. This experience takes place within the Souterrain and courtyard spaces and is dedicated to the stories
of women of war from 2000 to the present day. Water flows along a glazed roof and enters into the space
flowing down a wall, etched with the names of admirable Women, before the tunnel punctures through the cliff
face to reveal a viewing platform over the sea.
Reflection and Remembrance. This viewing platform allows for the visitor to reflect over the information
gleaned whilst looking out to sea. As this space is partially exposed, visitors will begin to feel a sense of
freedom as they listen to the birds song.
Future. After ascending back up to ground level, the visitor is able to look back on underground spaces with a
new perspective as they wonder freely back along the site. A proposed viewing platform will rise into the sky,
allowing a view over the explosive narrative of the site.”