The British Museum Announces Shortlist of Architects for Renovation Project

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11 September 2024

Five architect-led teams have been shortlisted for The British Museum’s competition to reimagine over a third of its gallery space.

Teams are competing to rebuild and restore around  7,500 m2 of gallery space that houses the “Western Range” collections from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. This area holds around a third of the museum’s overall gallery space, as well as back-of-house areas, totalling 15,650 square meters. The set of buildings range in age from the original 1850s buildings designed by Robert Smirke, to later additions such as Gallery 10 and 22. 

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The winners will work with the British Museum to develop designs that complement Museum’s sensitive historic buildings and decarbonisation plans. 

The shortlisted teams, chosen from 60 team entries, are:

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 Sceno, EQ2 Lighting, Purcell, Salvatore Settis, Studio ZNA

The shortlisted teams will now compete in the second stage of the International Architectural Competition. Stage two will run until December 2024, after which there will be a display of the shortlisted candidates’ entries in the Museum’s Round Reading Room. 

Applicants will be judged by a panel chaired by George Osborne and including Yvonne Farrell, Meneesha Kellay, Mahrukh Tarapor, and Sarah Younger. 

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 winner of the competition will be announced in early 2025. 

Picture: a photograph showing the British Museum's Great Court. Image Credit: © The Trustees of the British Museum

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 11 September 2024

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