We're delighted to announce that The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded Bath Assembly Rooms £1,085,531 to run the delivery phase of Reconnecting the Rooms.
October 2026
Delivery phase awarded
Project
Reconnecting the Rooms at Bath Assembly Rooms
Reconnecting the Rooms is an ambitious project which aims to bring people together in new ways. Working with communities, partners and heritage organisations across Bath and beyond, we want to reconnect people with the Assembly Rooms, its histories and each other. Creating a place that people feel welcome to gather, participate and get involved.
The project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Through research, events, new skills opportunities and community-led programmes, we'll explore what connection, belonging and heritage mean to people today. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’ll uncover and share a wider range of stories connected to the Assembly Rooms, provide new opportunities for people to participate in and for people to shape the future of the building.
Whilst Bath Assembly Rooms is closed for conservation, construction and the creation of a new Georgian visitor experience, Reconnecting the Rooms is helping to build relationships and create opportunities for people to connect with the building ahead of its reopening in 2027. Together with the major project to restore Bath Assembly Rooms, we're helping to create a place that is welcoming, relevant and meaningful for more people.
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 21st 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.
Creating new places for people
Reconnecting the Rooms will help transform spaces inside and outside Bath Assembly Rooms.
Two dedicated participation spaces will provide places for communities to meet, create, learn and develop their own activities. Outside, the forecourt at the front of the building, along with the north and south courtyards off the Card Room, will become greener, more accessible and welcoming spaces where people can gather, spend time and connect with one another.
The transformation is about more than improving the physical environment. It's about creating spaces that people feel able to use, enjoy and shape, helping Bath Assembly Rooms become a place of connection and belonging for everyone.
A different kind of welcome
Through our work with communities, we've learned that creating an accessible place is about more than removing physical barriers. It is also about how people are welcomed, whose stories are shared, and whether people can see themselves reflected in a place and its heritage.
Reconnecting the Rooms aims to put this learning into practice by working with people to help shape its future. Through long-term relationships, community partnerships and opportunities for participation, we'll create more ways for people to influence what happens at Bath Assembly Rooms.
What could you experience?
Our plans are organised around six connected programmes, each creating different ways to experience and shape Bath Assembly Rooms:
1. Rooms on the Road
An outreach programme that takes the Assembly Rooms beyond its walls, connecting with communities across Bath through creative activity, conversations, shared experiences and community partnerships.
2. Bath Speaks
A programme uncovering and sharing Bath's under-told stories through research, oral histories and creative storytelling, giving more people opportunities to explore and share the city's heritage.
3. Living Rooms
Inclusive events, exhibitions, activities and creative programmes that bring people together and encourage new forms of social connection.
4. People's Programme
Putting communities at the heart of decision-making, with people helping to shape activities, events and the future use of the Participation Spaces.
5. Work that Works
Transforming outdoor spaces while creating opportunities for people to learn skills, become involved in heritage projects and connect with nature and place.
6. Fit for the Future
Developing the skills, confidence and ways of working needed to help make Bath Assembly Rooms more inclusive, sustainable and welcoming in the future.
Shaped with people
Reconnecting the Rooms has already been shaped by hundreds of people. During the project's development, more than 800 participants, practitioners, partners and consultees helped test ideas and explore what would make Bath Assembly Rooms feel more relevant, welcoming and connected to people's lives.
Their involvement has highlighted the importance of building relationships, meeting people where they are, creating meaningful welcomes and making heritage personally relevant. These lessons continue to shape the project's activities, partnerships and future plans.
Get involved
Reconnecting the Rooms is about creating an Assembly Rooms with and for people, and there will be many ways to get involved as the project develops.
Whether through sharing stories, helping shape activities, volunteering, learning new skills, joining creative projects or attending events, we want people from across Bath to find their own connection with Bath Assembly Rooms.
Keep an eye on this page for future opportunities to take part and help shape what comes next.
Project timeline
Our partners
Inspiring, leading and resourcing the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.
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Future plans for Bath Assembly Rooms
Find out more about the Bath Assembly Rooms project and how we're working with partners and the local community to develop an exciting and relevant future for the Bath Assembly Rooms. We want to reveal the stories of the building and Georgian society as well as explore its role in twenty-first century Bath.
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