Bennerley Viaduct Visitor Centre & Café Officially Opens

We're delighted to celebrate the official opening of the new Bennerley Viaduct Visitor Centre & Café, marking an important milestone in the ongoing regeneration of one of the East Midlands' most significant industrial heritage landmarks.

The visitor centre has been designed to complement the viaduct and its setting, taking inspiration from the site's railway heritage. The Corten steel cladding will continue to weather over time, helping the building settle naturally into the landscape. The façade also features patterns inspired by the viaduct's lattice columns and artwork created by local schoolchildren, giving the building a unique identity while celebrating the community at the heart of the project.

The new visitor centre provides a welcoming gateway to the viaduct, with a café, exhibition and interpretation spaces, and accessible facilities for visitors to learn more about the structure's history and the surrounding landscape. Together with the new access ramp, it creates a much-improved arrival experience and encourages more people to discover this remarkable landmark.

It has been a pleasure to work alongside the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct and the wider project team to help bring this vision to life. The project shows how contemporary architecture can sit comfortably alongside a nationally important heritage asset, creating a space that supports education, tourism and the local community while respecting the character of the site.

As the surrounding landscape continues to establish, the visitor centre will become even more integrated into its setting. We'll share updated photography of the completed building and landscape once it's available. In the meantime, congratulations to everyone involved in reaching this significant milestone—we look forward to seeing the visitor centre enjoyed by visitors for many years to come.