Renewable energy holds the key to The Story

A building set to safeguard the history of County Durham is also sending a pointer toward its future with the installation of solar panels and ground source heat pumps being installed at The Story.

The series of low-carbon measures being taken at the grade II-listed Mount Oswald Manor House in Durham City, which has been renamed The Story, has been carried out by Durham County Council on the back of a £1.5m award from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The ERDF initiative to install energy efficiency measures in a key new cultural venue, signals the need to look towards the future as well as preserving the past.

Construction of the innovative centre is well underway, (with £1m match-funding from the council), with the works including installing almost 300 solar panels, 60 ground source heat pumps, and a smart boiler system.

Those renewables will provide almost 90 percent of The Story’s heating demand and 60 percent of its cooling demand.

This will reduce its overall energy consumption by 61 percent and carbon emissions by 51 percent, saving more than 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year when compared to a standard building of similar size.

The new archive stores have also been designed and constructed with low-carbon principles in mind to reduce the need to use additional heating or cooling.

These measures have been made in line with the council’s commitment to its Climate Emergency Response Plan, in which it has pledged to achieve net zero in its operations by 2030 and make the county carbon neutral by 2045.

Coun Mark Wilkes, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for Neighbourhoods and climate change, said: “We are delighted to say that work is going well on the creation of The Story, a new place to uncover the history of County Durham and a key cultural project which supports our position as the culture county.

“It was important to us to ensure that the new building is as energy efficient as possible, in line with our Climate Emergency Response Plan.

“We want people to discover the past, celebrate the present and create the future of Durham, which is why we have designed The Story with low carbon measures to protect and conserve its future.”

The Story will see the historic Mount Oswald site providing a home for the Durham Light Infantry Collection and almost six miles of archives, charting 900 years of local history, with the addition of a wedding ceremony venue

Set to open in 2023, the venue will transform the way the county’s history is told and accessed, with free entry to permanent and temporary exhibitions often through lesser-known narratives of working people and the communities pivotal in shaping the county.

It is one of a number of cultural projects taking place in the county which was shortlisted to become the UK’s City of Culture this year.