The British Museum has revealed more details of its £135m World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre, which is to open in March next year.
The development is one of the largest in the museum’s 260-year history and will include a 1,100 sq metre temporary exhibitions gallery; conservation studios and laboratories; stores for the collection; and a collections hub to receive and send objects. Building contractor Mace started demolition work in December 2010.
The centre, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, is located on a relatively small area in the north-west corner of the museum’s estate. Its 18,000 sq metres of floor space has been made possible by building 19 metres underground.
“The whole thing has been fitted into this very small corner of the site,” said British Museum director Neil MacGregor. “It has been a very, very complex feat of planning.”
The first exhibition will be on the Vikings and the size of the new space will allow the museum to display huge objects such as the 37-metre Viking ship that will form the centrepiece of the inaugural show. Prior to this the museum had no loading bay and struggled to get objects in and out of the site.
The museum currently uses the Reading Room for major shows. It will launch a consultation programme on the future uses of the Reading Room once the Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition closes on 29 September.
MacGregor said that he hoped the collections hub would help expand the museum’s loans programme. In 2012-13 it loaned 2,328 objects to 151 international venues and 2,174 objects to 169 UK venues.
The World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre will house the conservation functions of the museum together in one place for the first time since it became a distinct department in 1975.
And the new storage space will allow the museum to bring in material that is stored off-site, which will be particularly important for sensitive organic material.
The British Museum has raised four fifths of the £135m budget. More than £25m came from the Linbury Trust and the Monument Trust, while the Heritage Lottery Fund contributed £10m.
The development is one of the largest in the museum’s 260-year history and will include a 1,100 sq metre temporary exhibitions gallery; conservation studios and laboratories; stores for the collection; and a collections hub to receive and send objects. Building contractor Mace started demolition work in December 2010.
The centre, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, is located on a relatively small area in the north-west corner of the museum’s estate. Its 18,000 sq metres of floor space has been made possible by building 19 metres underground.
“The whole thing has been fitted into this very small corner of the site,” said British Museum director Neil MacGregor. “It has been a very, very complex feat of planning.”
The first exhibition will be on the Vikings and the size of the new space will allow the museum to display huge objects such as the 37-metre Viking ship that will form the centrepiece of the inaugural show. Prior to this the museum had no loading bay and struggled to get objects in and out of the site.
The museum currently uses the Reading Room for major shows. It will launch a consultation programme on the future uses of the Reading Room once the Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition closes on 29 September.
MacGregor said that he hoped the collections hub would help expand the museum’s loans programme. In 2012-13 it loaned 2,328 objects to 151 international venues and 2,174 objects to 169 UK venues.
The World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre will house the conservation functions of the museum together in one place for the first time since it became a distinct department in 1975.
And the new storage space will allow the museum to bring in material that is stored off-site, which will be particularly important for sensitive organic material.
The British Museum has raised four fifths of the £135m budget. More than £25m came from the Linbury Trust and the Monument Trust, while the Heritage Lottery Fund contributed £10m.
