Haverfordwest Castle has undergone its most significant transformation in generations, with a major heritage-led redevelopment to create a flagship visitor destination while conserving one of Pembrokeshire’s most important historic landmarks.

Led by Pembrokeshire County Council, the redevelopment forms part of the wider Heart of Pembrokeshire programme, backed by £17.7 million of UK Government funding. The project combines restoration of historic buildings with the creation of new visitor experiences designed to encourage more people to explore the castle and its surroundings.

At the heart of the redevelopment is the former County Gaol, a Grade II listed building within the castle grounds, which is being converted into a new visitor attraction that will tell the story of Pembrokeshire’s past, present and future through immersive exhibitions and interactive technology.

Working with Horbury Southwest and main contractor Morgan Sindall, Glulam Timber Engineering provided the bespoke glulam Feature Trusses that form the architectural highlight of the new flagship Visitor Centre at the newly redeveloped Castle complex.

The full package includes a total of eleven main feature trusses—five with a 12.2-metre span and six with a 10.4-metre span—supplemented by two sets of hip and jack trusses, plus all associated purlins and connection detailing.

Together, these elegant timber elements create a stunning glulam centrepiece, harmoniously blending modern structural engineering with the ancient character of the castle environment.

The project involved the full scope of design, precision manufacture, and off-site assembly.

The team had to design the Glulam Feature Trusses to mirror the existing trusses and then convert into standard Glulam section sizes. As the Glulam Feature Trusses were replacing existing trusses that were built over 100 years ago, it was not entirely clear where the trusses would sit. Therefore, purlins were not cut to length offsite and were instead supplied overlength to ensure they could be adjusted onsite to suit.

The Feature Trusses were manufactured with state-of-the-art CNC Machinery at our Avonmouth facility, and then assembled by hand, using steel bolt and plate connections. Offsite assembly massively increased the build programme on site but required a more precise delivery compared to delivering unassembled, individual parts.

Loading the pre-assembled Feature Trusses onto the delivery vehicle was a challenge as the components of the trusses were already bolted together so therefore could not be stacked. Instead, “spacers” were created and installed between each Feature Truss to keep the bolts from damaging the surrounding trusses in transit.

There were more difficulties once at site. Due to the extremely tight site access through the historic castle grounds, an articulated lorry could not be used, so a smaller vehicle had to be employed to carry all the components the last 150 metres to the castle.

The Glulam Feature Trusses were delivered to site pre-slung with lifting straps, again increasing the build programme onsite, allowing them to be immediately craned off and erected once they arrived on site.