The practice was commissioned by the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust to transform this former herring-curing works, which was on the local authority’s buildings at risk register, into a museum to tell the story of Great Yarmouth. Despite years of neglect and vandalism, many of the factory’s original features had survived. The practice wanted the Museum to embody a sense of memory and to be fun. The tall smokehouses were preserved complete with their distinctive, fishy aroma. Some of the deep pits, or ‘steeps’, which had been used for soaking the herring in brine, were adapted for use as display spaces. Alterations were necessary to allow for coherent circulation through the exhibition spaces and a lift and staircases were added, but great care was taken to ensure that the conversion was sympathetic. Where possible, alterations were made in areas that had sustained damage and were clearly expressed in modern materials.