Reconnecting the Rooms at Bath Assembly Rooms

The project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will explore what social connection and heritage mean for people and communities now. By sharing these histories and reflecting on the stories that resonate with people today, we aim to inspire new views and create connections which will last far into the future.

Whilst Bath Assembly Rooms is closed for conservation, construction and the development of a new Georgian visitor experience, Reconnecting the Rooms will explore how people can be bought together. Reconnecting the community of Bath as we bring the building back to it’s original ethos – a place to serve all people, ready for when the building reopens in 2027.

Everyone is welcome at Bath Assembly Rooms.

The ethos of Bath Assembly Rooms

Bath Assembly Rooms was built for a very specific reason, and with a very specific vision: to reflect the people and the diversity of the city.

John Wood the Younger, a prominent architect in Bath, designed the building to be a place of social gathering for ‘all ranks of society’. The rooms, of varying sizes and functions, were intended to be a central venue for socialising in the Georgian period. Drawing people from all walks of life and allowing for people of different backgrounds and social standings to mix and mingle.

Reconnecting the Rooms aims to restore the original purpose of the Assembly Rooms creating a building for 21^st century assembly, welcoming everyone. Connecting the communities of Bath and Somerset with its heritage and creating opportunity for new social gatherings. Making Bath Assembly Rooms a vital part of Bath’s social calendar once more.

Inclusive histories

We will investigate and research the undiscovered social histories connected to Bath Assembly Rooms. Exploring its activism and colonial links, the LGBTQ+ figures who visited the Rooms, and the workers who built it.

This research will underpin all of the work across Reconnecting the Rooms. We will share these stories with you through community groups and events. Thinking about how we celebrate personal heritage, and demonstrating the relevance today. This will inform what diverse assembly looks like at Bath Assembly Rooms in future. Working with a range of heritage and community partners, we will share creative responses from our research, playing our part in making Bath a more inclusive city.

Rooms on the Road

Rooms on the Road is an outreach programme which will explore what connection means to you, and what social gathering looks like today, in 2025.

Working with partners across Bath, we will create and deliver experiences designed to reduce isolation and loneliness, and address the disconnection that some audiences feel over the city’s heritage. Identifying the main access barriers, Rooms on the Road will bring communities together, using the inclusive histories research to explore themes of connection and social gathering. Rooms on the Road will have us out in the community to discover personal heritage that matters to people today. 

Events and programming

We're working with partners to understand what motivates people to meet socially and gather together. Informed by this, we'll design and deliver activities, workshops, talks and events that serve the needs, and improves connection, with the local community and to personal and local histories.

Interior and exterior spaces

Reconnecting the Rooms will transform spaces inside and outside Bath Assembly Rooms, so it can welcome and support the local community.

Two spaces inside the building will be co-designed with communities, and purposefully designated for community use. Working with key partners we’ll shape and fit-out the spaces to meet the needs of people in Bath. Two courtyards and the forecourt outside Bath Assembly Rooms will be transformed. Adopting an intentional co-design approach with stakeholders and local groups to create green living rooms, improved seating, lighting, and a reflective space where visitors can eat, play, or simply watch the world go by.

Skills development

Throughout the project we’ll create a new range of opportunities for young people and volunteers, working with people who want to develop skills and deepen their connection to heritage.

We will pilot and launch a range of offers from heritage taster sessions, new volunteering roles, apprenticeships, and work placements. All designed to build confidence and provide opportunities to develop skills in different heritage settings.