City of London Corporation Wins Award for New Migration Museum

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17 June 2024

The City of London Corporation has won a planning award for its role in developing a new home for the Migration Museum in the Square Mile.

Planning permission was granted for a mixed-use scheme at 65 Crutched Friars, to include a new permanent home for the museum, interactive temporary and permanent exhibition galleries, a flexible learning suite and an event space, outdoor areas, a restaurant and a shop. 

The project won the “Planning Permission of the Year” award at the Planning Awards 2024, held at Savoy Place. The judges praised the scheme for its focus and potential to attract a broader range of diverse communities into the City of London. The museum will be part of a 769-bedroom (35 per cent affordable) student accommodation-led development, remaining at its Lewisham venue until the new site opens in 2027.

The Migration Museum celebrates how migration has shaped the UK across the centuries, with current exhibitions including “Migration and the Making of the NHS” and two segments from the Berlin Wall.

Picture: a CGI showing the proposed exterior of the new museum. Image Credit: Dominus 

Developer Dominus Donates £500,000 Towards Museum Staff Costs

Developer Dominus Real Estate, which was founded by Ugandan refugee Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, is currently on site delivering the project, which will feature over 3,000 sqm of space. Dominus has guaranteed to underwrite the museum’s first three years’ operating costs, as well as proposing a donation of £500,000 to pay for a team of museum staff to lead the fundraising drive.

Migration Museum CEO, Sophie Henderson said: “We cannot think of a more exciting or resonant location for Britain’s missing museum than the City of London, site of some of the oldest and most intriguing migration stories from the Romans to medieval times and the present day. The Migration Museum will be a high-profile, stylish and welcoming new cultural institution that puts our long, rich and complex story of the movement of people both to and from Britain over the ages right at centre stage, where it belongs. It has been a privilege and pleasure to work with the City planning team and developers Dominus to bring this important project to fruition.”

Picture: a CGI showing the proposed interior of the new museum, showing an open seating area. Image Credit: Dominus 

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 17 June 2024

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