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London Museum Buildings : Architecture

Key Built Environment Developments in the British Capital, England, UK

post updated 12 November 2024

We’ve selected what we feel are the key examples of London Museum Buildings. We aim to include projects that are either of top quality or interesting, or ideally both.

We cover completed London Museum buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions and architecture competitions across São Paulo and Brasil. The focus is on contemporary buildings but information on traditional buildings is also welcome.

We have 2 pages of London Museum Architecture selections with links to many individual project pages.

London Museum Buildings : news + key projects A-I (this page)

London Museum Architecture : J-Z

London Museums

London Museums Architecture News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

8 May 2024
British Museum international architectural competition news
British Museum Western Range London UK
image © Trustees British Museum
British Museum Western Range Architecture Competition
The British Museum has launched an international architectural competition to identify the design team that will help reimagine its gallery space for future generations.

16 October 2023
Museum of London in West Smithfield
London Museum Buildings - Smithfield Market
photo © Luke Hayes
New London Museum Smithfield Market
The Foundation Stone for the new London Museum was unveiled this at a special ceremony at its new location in Smithfield. It marks a key milestone in the project’s build to transform the historic buildings of Smithfield Market into a new museum, opening in 2026.

31 May 2023
V&A East Storehouse, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, Borough of Newham, East London
V&A East Storehouse Building, Stratford, London architecture news
image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Image courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, Londonn
V&A East Storehouse Building, Stratford

11 Aug 2020
Imperial War Museum London Atrium with Ai Weiwei Artwork, Lambeth Rd, SE1 6HZ
Imperial War Museum London building UK
photo courtesy of Imperial War Museum, Lambeth
Imperial War Museum London Atrium
In an historic event at the IWM London’s iconic Atrium the entire space has been taken over by an artist. Internationally renowned Ai Weiwei’s ‘History of Bombs’ is a site-specific work that explores a two dimensional rendering in exacting detail of fifty true to scale bombs and missiles.

27 May 2016
Natural History Museum, South Kensington
Design: Alfred Waterhouse
+
Natural History Museum London Transformation
Design: Níall McLaughlin Architects
Natural History Museum London design
image courtesy of architects office
Natural History Museum
Proposals to transform the surroundings of Alfred Waterhouse’s Grade I-listed Natural History Museum have been lodged with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, reports the Architect’s Journal.

4 Apr 2013
Churchill War Rooms, Imperial War Museum, Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London SW1
Design: Clash Associates
Churchill War Rooms London museum entry
photo : Richard Davies
Churchill War Rooms
A bold and architecturally significant new entrance to IWM’s (Imperial War Museums) Churchill War Rooms, home to the award-winning Churchill Museum and Churchill’s Second World War bunker. The entrance acts as a beacon, highlighting the museum’s unique role in the nation’s history, while improving the visitor experience and way-finding for the public. An exciting addition to London’s architectural landscape, it will contribute positively to the identity and visibility of this historic landmark.

Major London Museums Projects, alphabetical:

British Museum
Dates built: 1823-47
Design: Sir Robert Smirke
British Museum Building
photo © Adrian Welch
British Museum Building
The Museum has a rich architectural heritage, the site has developed and grown at each stage of its history.

British Museum Great Court
Dates built: 1994-2000
Design: Foster & Partners
British Museum Great Court
photograph © Keepclicking
The courtyard at the centre of the British Museum was one of Londons long-lost spaces. Originally an open garden, soon after its completion in the mid-nineteenth century it was filled by the round Reading Room and its associated bookstacks. Without this space the Museum was like a city without a park. This project is about its reinvention.

British Museum Building Extension
Dates built: 2009-
Design: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
British Museum World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre | www.e-architect.com
photo : Joas Souza
British Museum Building Extension
The £135 m project will be the largest development onsite since the Great Court opened in 2000. This development will transform an under-utilised section of the site in the north west of the Museum, situated adjacent to the impressive King Edward VII Building which was completed in 1914.

Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, west London
Date built: 2009
Design: C. F. Møller Architects
Darwin Centre London museum building
photograph : Torben Eskerod
Darwin Centre
The brief for the building had three key objectives: to provide a home for 20 million plant and insect specimens, to provide a working area for the research scientists and to enable the public to interact with the scientists and the collections. This has been achieved by providing visitors with an opportunity to go on self-guided tours in and around the cocoon, which gives glimpses of the research facility and the extent of the collections.

Geffrye Museum Redevelopment, east London
Dates built: 2009-
Design: David Chipperfield Architects
Geffrye Museum
photo : Geffrye Museum
Geffrye Museum
David Chipperfield was announced as the winner of the design competition in 2009. A Heritage Lottery Fund application was made in the same year.

London Science Museum, South Kensington
Dates built: 2009-
Design: Wilkinson Eyre
Museum of the Future Building
picture from architect studio
London Science Museum
Expected to be completed in 2015, Museum of the Future is an architectural vision for the Science Museum that includes important new and updated galleries. With around 15,000 objects on public display, the Science Museum’s collections form an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical change from the past few centuries.

More London Museum Buildings online soon

Location: London, England, UK
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London is global capital of museums

Findings from the 2016 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the economics practice at global infrastructure services company AECOM.

London’s status as the global capital of museums has been confirmed by a new study. With four museums in the global top 20 by visitor numbers in 2016, the capital has achieved first place in the global list jointly with Washington DC, which also has four entries in the top 20.

London Museum Architecture

Victoria & Albert Museum Jewellery Gallery
Design: Eva Jiricna Architects
V&A Jewellery Gallery
photograph : Katsuhisa Kida

V&A Museum Women’s Amenities
Design: Glowacka Rennie Architects
V&A Museum Women’s Amenities
picture © Arch Image Photography

Victoria & Albert Museum Gallery
Design: Gareth Hoskins Architects
Victoria & Albert, V&A, Architecture
V&A Gallery London : image by Morley Von Sternberg

Museum of London Building

Natural History Museum

Comments / photos for the London Museum Buildings page welcome