Skip to main content

Museum of London tender for £7.5m innovative new gallery

News
museum of london west smithfield

The Museum of London has issued a tender for the design of a £7.5 million new innovative visitor experience. Start-ups and SMEs are invited to apply.

The attraction is looking for a lead exhibition designer to create a ‘Past Time’ exhibition within vaults beneath the historic 1883 General Market building in West Smithfield. It’s expected to be in place for 15-20 years at the museum’s £180 million new site in West Smithfield, London.

Exploring London in Time, London Life, and The Physical City, the exhibition will also feature the Cheapside Hoard, a collection of Elizabethan and Stuart jewellery found in 1912.

The General Market building is being transformed into a new home for the museum, which has been located in London Wall near Barbican since its launch in 1976.

At 26,000 square metres, the new venue is roughly double the size of the Barbican site.

Designed by Stanton Williams Architects, Asif Khan Studio and Julian Harrap Conservation Architects, the £180 million new Museum of London is due to open between 2024 and 2025.

The £7.5 million project is the first gallery to be commissioned for the new venue, which will contain a collection of over six million items, set within a “vast” and “atmospheric” subterranean space.

Past Time will feature an array of items from MoL’s London Collection, including art, historic clothing, and “remains of ancient Londoners”.

The space will even have a live railway running through it, with London Thameslink trains passing via the corner of the gallery every hour at peak times.

MoL interested in start-ups and SMEs

Anyone can apply for the job, which is worth £1.65 million to the winning consultancy.

Design Week reports that Director of the Museum of London, Sharon Ament, is looking for an innovative approach: “Surprise us with your talent and ideas, we want you to challenge our thinking and stretch the possibilities of a museum.”

The museum also says that it’s interested in start-ups and small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It describes the opportunity to design the gallery as a “once-in-a-generation” project, adding that it hopes to see “innovative” approaches to designing the “object-rich, narrative-driven, immersive, theatrical and interactive display”.

MoL aims to have a shortlist of applicants by summer and to announce a winner soon after.

Sharon Ament previously spoke to Blooloop about the museum and its upcoming developments.

To apply for the job, head here.

Image: Museum of London

Share this

Bea Mitchell

Bea is a journalist specialising in entertainment, attractions and tech with 10 years' experience. She has written and edited for publications including CNET, BuzzFeed, Digital Spy, Evening Standard and BBC. Bea graduated from King's College London and has an MA in journalism.

More from this author

More from this author

Related content

Your web browser is out of date. Update your browser for more security, speed and the best experience on this site.

Find out how to update