Redevelopment of the Western Range
Key information
Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture won the competition to redesign the Western Range galleries.
The redesign of the Western Range will be one of the biggest cultural renovation projects undertaken anywhere in the world.
The Western Range includes all the galleries to the west of the Great Court, housing our greatest objects from ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Rome, Assyria and the Middle East. Alongside architectural transformation, the project has ambitious plans for redisplaying the collection. The redesign will prioritise visitor experience as well as creating beautiful spaces – and will include new collection stores and research facilities.
In May 2024, we launched an international architecture competition to find the team to work with us on this project. There were over 60 applications from across the globe, and five shortlisted architecture teams were chosen to take part in the second stage of the competition. Concept designs from the five shortlisted teams were part of a public display in the Reading Room, titled Rethinking the British Museum. Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture was selected as the winner.
Overview
In the 1820s, the visionary English architect Sir Robert Smirke (1780–1867) designed an extraordinary new home for the British Museum in the then-fashionable Greek Revival style. It was built to accommodate 100,000 visitors a year – but today the Museum welcomes six million people from across the world. Alongside that, a collection that started with around 150,000 objects now exceeds eight million. To house the growing collection and increasing visitor numbers, the Museum's Camden site has evolved over time.
Despite appearing as a single structure, the Western Range is made up of 10 separate buildings – added to Robert Smirke's original Grade I listed quadrangle over the last 190 years. Now, we are embarking on the biggest renovation project in the Museum's history – rebuilding and restoring this patchwork of buildings to make them suitable for the 21st century. The project also involves rethinking how the Museum collection is presented, to encourage us – and our visitors – to think creatively and critically about the connections and contrasts between and across cultures.
In May 2024 the Museum launched its international Western Range architecture competition, which closed in December 2024. Over nine months it received 60 entries from architecture practices across the globe who competed in a two-stage process which tested their creativity, skill and vision to put forward a concept to transform a third of the Museum's gallery space in its iconic central London site. Five teams were shortlisted by the expert judging panel which was comprised of ten members of the architecture industry alongside the British Museum's Director Nicholas Cullinan and Chair George Osborne.
A display of the finalists' concept designs opened in December and was exhibited in the Reading Room at the British Museum.
Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture and the wider team including: Ali Cherri – Artist, Purcell – Executive & Conservation Architect, Arup – MEP, Structural & Civil Engineering, Holmes Studio – Graphic Design & Wayfinding, Plan A – Design Team Coordination, won the contract in February 2025 and will now work with the Museum's team to move their winning concept and ideas to a final design approach which is expected to be shared by mid-2026.
Quote from George Osborne
We set out to find the best and I believe we've found her. In Lina Ghotmeh we have an architect who combines a deep sensitivity to the history of our great collection while being a voice for the future. We had many outstanding entries – and I thank the other practices for all their hard work – but I can say as chair of the judging panel, she was the standout winner. Her design ideas excited and enthused the trustees; when they become real buildings and galleries we know they will excite and enthuse our millions of visitors. When we moved into our current building 200 years ago the world was wowed. I believe they will be wowed again when this transformation of our great sculpture galleries, and much more, is complete.
George Osborne, Chair of the British Museum
Impact
A balance between contemporary design and sensitive restoration
- Distinctive buildings in the original Grade I listed Smirke architecture will be preserved and enhanced. For example, reinstating historic doorways will flood spaces with natural light.
- Varied new galleries with contemporary architecture alongside the already celebrated historic Museum buildings.
- Redesigned gallery spaces will provide scope for engaging new digital experiences.
- An improved interior layout to better ensure accessibility and circulation, and include more well-placed amenities.
- The redevelopment will also create modern facilities for research and collection storage.
Innovative displays
- The Museum will collaborate with local, national and global partners to foreground different voices, showcase cutting edge research and tell unexpected stories.
- Future galleries will be spaces where the past speaks to the present, engaging visitors with the collection in ways that spark curiosity and conversation.
- Displays will be inclusive and open, inviting visitors to make connections across time and place.
The Western Range will be redeveloped in phases
- While some galleries will be closed for certain periods, the Museum as a whole will remain open.
- Key objects from the Western Range galleries will be displayed elsewhere in the Museum.
- Other objects may be loaned as part of our commitment to increase national and international loans.
