British Museum Competition Shortlist London, Robert Smirke building, Great Court, Architects contest

British Museum Competition Shortlist in London

10 October 2024

The British Museum announces shortlist of five consultant teams to lead the design of a new visitor welcome experience

The Visitor Welcome Programme project brief asked for proposals for a new and improved welcome pavilion and public realm at both the north and south entrances of the most visited attraction in the UK, with over 6 million visitors annually. The invited designers formed consultant teams to develop high-quality, flexible and sustainable proposals, with a clear end-of-life plan that will account for the re-use of any structures erected on the site.

British Museum Visitor Welcome Pavilions Competition Shortlist

29 August 2024

The British Museum announces shortlist of five architect-led teams for major renovation of its Western Range Galleries

Location: Bloomsbury, central London, England, UK

British Museum Competition Shortlist, London

The British Museum has announced its shortlist of five architect-led consultant teams that will compete in the second stage of its International Architectural Competition.

The competition has been set up to select a team that will work with the Museum to reimagine over a third of its gallery space. Stage two will run until December 2024, at which point there will be a display of the shortlisted candidates’ entries in the Museum’s iconic Round Reading Room. The outcome of the competition will be announced in early 2025.

The winning team will work with experts across the British Museum to develop designs for the Western Range that respond to the Museum’s sensitive historic buildings, ambitious decarbonisation plans, and the ongoing process of reimagining the display and care of collections.

Stage one of the competition ran from 8 May to 21 June 2024, attracting over 60 team entries, ranging across six continents and an exciting range of experience; from recently formed practices to long-established firms. The competition is being run on behalf of the British Museum by Colander Associates.

The five shortlisted teams include some of the most celebrated British and international architects alongside a variety of consultants that represent a compelling mix of expertise from a wide range of perspectives.

The shortlisted teams are:

Team 1: 6a Architects
with: Advanced Integrated Solutions, Arup, David Bonnett Associates, Gitta Gschwendtner, Kellenberger-White, London School of Architecture, Purcell, Studio ZNA

Team 2: David Chipperfield Architects
with: AEA Consulting, Adamson Associates, Alan Baxter Associates, Arup, Atelier Brückner, Atelier Ten, Lobe Lloyd, Julian Harrap Architects, Plan A, Reusefully, Neal Shasore

Team 3: Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert Architects
with: Buro Happold, David Bonnett Associates, Max Fordham, Mima, Price & Myers, Purcell, Space Syntax, Studio ZNA

Team 4: Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture
with: Ali Cherri, Arup, Holmes Studio, Plan A, Purcell

Team 5: OMA
with: Arup, Benoy, Cookies, Ducks Scéno, EQ2 Light, Purcell, Salvatore Settis, Studio ZNA

George Osborne, Chair of the British Museum, said: “The redevelopment of the British Museum is one of the biggest projects of our time. We asked for the best of the architectural community to step forward to help – and they have, from Britain and across the world. The shortlist we’ve chosen mixes renowned experience with exciting new voices. We couldn’t have asked for more”

Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, said: “I’m so impressed by the vision, creativity and sheer number of entries at this first stage of the competition. These five teams have strong resumes and demonstrate the qualities we need for the Western Range project which is both an architectural as well as intellectual transformation of the British Museum. This is a career-defining opportunity for the final team and I am excited for the next stage of the competition and the conversation and collaboration to come from this once in a lifetime brief.”

Russell Torrance, Director of Estates & Capital Projects at the British Museum, said: “The purpose of this competition is to identify a team the British Museum can work with on a long-term basis to reimagine its Western Range galleries for future generations. Rather than seeking a fixed outcome in the form of a concept design, the competition allows us to engage with shortlisted teams over an extended period of time. We want to meet the team with the vision and skill to collaborate with the British Museum on an ongoing basis as we embark on a hugely significant programme of work for our historic buildings and the collections they house, as well as our users – visitors and staff.”

The Western Range holds a third of the museum’s overall gallery space, as well as significant back-of-house areas, totalling 15,650 square meters. The complex of buildings range in age from the original 1850s buildings designed by Robert Smirke, to later additions such as Gallery 10 and 22. All of the buildings are in need of upgrade to meet contemporary building performance standards, and many contain highly significant heritage building fabric.

Stage two of the competition will ask the teams to participate in a process that includes a day-long charette with the Museum team, as well as a series of design exercises that will assess their approach to historic fabric, as well as different elements of spatial, environmental and exhibition design.

Deliberate limitations have been put in place to ensure that the teams do not arrive at an overall, complete plan for the Western Range project but are instead able to demonstrate their ability to envision and lead a collaborative process that responds to the complex needs of multiple stakeholders, both within the Museum and from external groups.

Applicants will be judged by an expert panel that will comprise ten members, chaired by George Osborne. He will be joined by leading experts in this field including Yvonne Farrell, Meneesha Kellay, Mahrukh Tarapor, and Sarah Younger. Mark Jones and Nicholas Cullinan will also sit on the panel alongside representatives from the British Museum’s Board of Trustees: Tracey Emin, Charlie Mayfield and Alejandro Santo Domingo.

The International Architectural Competition is part of the wider Masterplan project, which will restore and renovate the British Museum’s iconic Camden site, extend to new locations, and ensure its extraordinary collection is housed in buildings and galleries fit for the 21st century.

The scale, complexity and importance of Masterplan means it will be one of the most significant cultural redevelopment projects ever undertaken. Projects currently in progress include the recently completed British Museum Archaeological Research facility (BM_ARC) in Reading, and a new Energy Centre for the Bloomsbury site, which will phase out of the use of fossil fuels.

The Museum has confirmed that it will stay open to the public throughout works on the Masterplan, maintaining the founding commitment to keep the collection safe and accessible to the public.