A tour of the Abington Hall site
Tour Notes
The tour starts at main reception, as this is the only access available to any building by visitors.
Bevan Braithwaite Building
This is one of the newer buildings built in 2003-4.
It houses on the ground floor a reception, an exhibition of work that TWI (The Welding Institute) does and some offices. There are toilets just by reception.
The stairs (lift available for disabled) lead to the second floor that houses a large suite of offices, Electron Microscopy, drinks machines, a relaxation area and the Engineering Hall. There are toilets at the top of the stairs.
Photographs of all the people who have been in charge of the company are found here.
A wall is covered in large welded panels
Looking over the balcony the building is three storeys but the top floor just provides the services to the building.
Many experiments, tests are carried out in the Engineering Hall and you will see a demonstration of welding here.
The large door and ramp at the far end are to allow very large machines or big pieces of material in to be used in experiments.
Richard Weck Laboratory or The Testing Laboratory.
This is an older building built in the 1960s. Although it looks like an ordinary building it is a listed building because of the method that was used to build it.
From the outside it appears to be a three storey building but is in fact only one.
The large numbers of windows are to allow light in.
The size of the building is to allow very large tall testing machines to be used to pull, push and waggle materials until they break (fatigue).
Around the outside are many safety notices and tanks which show large dangerous processes are going on inside.
Abington Hall
This is the oldest building on site. Parts date back to late 1600's and in its current form was built in the late 1700's with various modifications over the years. This is also a listed building.
It has three storeys.
It has three main uses today.
- A publishing company uses the top floor as offices.
- The second floor is accommodation.
- The ground floor is used for conferences and weddings.
A lot of the features inside and outside the hall are original.
The oak panelling in the wedding room is original and listed in many articles about the hall.
The hall looks its best from the rear where parts of the garden designed by Repton still exist.
Mary's
Mary's is the restaurant that provides refreshments for the employees.
Today it is situated in a building built in 1975 and provides a lovely view of the rear of the hall.
Toilets are to the right if you are looking at the kitchen.
Bevan Braithwaite Building
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Is this building new or old?
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What do you find just inside the revolving door? |
Tick the materials in the list that you see that were used to make this building.
| glass | clay | wool | metal |
| plaster | plastic | rubber | grass |
| wood | elastic | marble | soil |
Look carefully at the pieces of welding on show.
Draw a picture of something that you find interesting that has a weld in it.
Carefully climb the stairs and then look over the balcony. How many floors are there in this building?
This building is named after a man who is in a picture at the top of the stairs. How long did he work for TWI?
All the people in these pictures have buildings named after them on the site.
What other things is this building used for?
You will now watch a demonstration of Arc Welding.
What two substances are joined together by welding?
Why do you think this building has a very large door and a ramp?
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Testing laboratory
(Richard Weck Laboratory)
In this building the scientists test the welds in metal.
1. How many floors has the lab got?
(Be careful, have a good look inside the building!)
2. What is the building made from?
3. What are many of the windows made from?
4. Some of the windows open on hinges. We call these casement windows.
Can you find any casement windows on this building?
Label them on your diagrams.
5. Can you find the following things around the building? Label them on your diagram
| oil tank | transformer | safety signs |
| sheets of metal | wooden shed |
| Testing Laboratory - front |
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Testing Laboratory - rear view |
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Rear View of Abington Hall
Is this building old or new?
Look carefully at the building.
Now fill in the answers on your worksheet.
