London’s Natural History Museum is planning a £550 million transformation ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2031.
Via the Financial Times, the government will contribute most of the £400m already committed to the project. The museum aims to raise an additional £150m, it said in a press release.
The institution in South Kensington will refurbish four existing galleries, including the famous dinosaur gallery, and reopen two current storage rooms as new galleries.
One of these houses a collection of insects and has been closed to the public since 2004. The other space, the old herbarium, has been closed since 1948.
Per a press release, the spaces will be restored “to their former glory, complete with iconic Victorian architecture”.
As for the refurbished galleries, the first of four will open in 2025 and is called ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’. This will explore environmental challenges.
Space will be created for new galleries by moving more than a third of the museum’s collection to a state-of-the-art research and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park in Reading.
By relocating the collection out of storage in South Kensington and into a purpose-built facility, the museum is “returning gallery space back to its intended use”, it said.
Making space in South Kensington
Doug Gurr, the museum’s director, said: “Since 2017 when we unveiled Hope the blue whale diving through the heart of the museum, a symbol of humanity’s power to act for the planet, we’ve been working hard to help people understand the importance of looking after the natural world.
“In 2020 we declared a planetary emergency and our mission to create advocates for the planet.”
He added: “This step-change from a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change will be fully realised as our galleries here in South Kensington are renewed and revitalised, powered by our scientists’ work to find solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face.”
Images courtesy of the Natural History Museum
