Birmingham Museums Trust cancels design tender for £18m revamp
Project would improve access, displays and public facilities
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) has put its search for an architect to design a planned £18m redevelopment on hold.
The project planned to overhaul the grade II* listed Council House site, which the museum co-occupies with Birmingham City Council.
Its aims included making the building more accessible and easier to orientate, creating new displays and public facilities, and enabling better collections care.
A spokeswoman for Birmingham Museums Trust confirmed that the tender had been cancelled, but said there were still plans for the redevelopment to go ahead. She could not provide details about when the project would resume, or the reasons for the pause.
The Architects' Journal reported that a statement from the trust said: “A change generated by a key stakeholder has resulted in a major scope and major time frame revision. In accordance with tendering procedures we are reluctantly cancelling this tender.
“We will advise when we have any further updates. We note the response from interested parties was of a very high standard.”
In its invitation to tender, BMAG said that the project aimed to redevelop the building “in a way that reflects its historic significance while ensuring its long-term future as a museum and art gallery of international stature”.
The brief set a provisional date for submitting a stage 1 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in October this year, and for completion in 2022.
The project planned to overhaul the grade II* listed Council House site, which the museum co-occupies with Birmingham City Council.
Its aims included making the building more accessible and easier to orientate, creating new displays and public facilities, and enabling better collections care.
A spokeswoman for Birmingham Museums Trust confirmed that the tender had been cancelled, but said there were still plans for the redevelopment to go ahead. She could not provide details about when the project would resume, or the reasons for the pause.
The Architects' Journal reported that a statement from the trust said: “A change generated by a key stakeholder has resulted in a major scope and major time frame revision. In accordance with tendering procedures we are reluctantly cancelling this tender.
“We will advise when we have any further updates. We note the response from interested parties was of a very high standard.”
In its invitation to tender, BMAG said that the project aimed to redevelop the building “in a way that reflects its historic significance while ensuring its long-term future as a museum and art gallery of international stature”.
The brief set a provisional date for submitting a stage 1 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in October this year, and for completion in 2022.