London Museum Buildings, Architecture, Architect, Pictures, Designs

London Museum Architecture

Key Architectural Developments in the British Capital, UK

page updated 14 Jun 2014

London Museum Designs

We’ve selected what we feel are the key examples of London museum architecture designs. We aim to include projects that are either of top quality or interesting, or ideally both.

We cover completed London Museum buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions and architecture competitions across São Paulo and Brasil. The focus is on contemporary buildings but information on traditional buildings is also welcome.

We have 2 pages of London Museum Architecture selections with links to many individual project pages.

London Museum Buildings : news + key projects A-I

London Museum Architecture : J-Z (this page)

Architecture in the British Capital – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

Major London Museums Designs, alphabetical:

Museum of Garden History Redevelopment
Date built: 2008
Design: Dow Jones Architects

photograph : David Grandorge
Museum of Garden History Redevelopment
The architects won an architectural competition in 2007 to redesign the Garden Museum. The competition brief asked for a new gallery space where temporary exhibitions could be housed in secure and environmentally-controlled conditions. It appeared to the architects that creating a dedicated place for the museum’s permanent collection was equally important, as the exhibits were frequently moved to make space for events. We developed a strategy which addressed both issues. The architects’ idea was to create a belvedere within the existing building. This houses the new galleries and provides a raised ground from which a new perspective of the existing building is attained.

Museum of London, London Wall, Barbican, London
Dates built: 1974-76
Design: Powell & Moya Architects
Date built: 2010
renewal: Wilkinson Eyre Architects

photo © Edmund Sumner
Museum of London Building
The innovative design increases the space by 25 per cent, creating an entirely new gallery by extending the Museum to meet the street along London Wall. Wilkinson Eyre has conjured a lighter space with the introduction of a window elevation by the Museum’s garden court to breathe new life and light into the lower level where the new galleries are situated. A glass frontage on London Wall allows visitors and passersby to see into the Museum from ground level for the first time, with the Lord Mayor’s State Coach, one of the Museum’s treasures, taking pride of place

Natural History Museum, South Kensington
Date built: 1881
Design: Alfred Waterhouse Architect

picture © Adrian Welch
Natural History Museum
World famous neo-gothic building – a superb example of Victorian architecture – located in Albertopolis, west London’s museum quarter.

National Maritime Museum Extension, Greenwich
Date built: 2011
Design: C. F. Møller Architects

picture from architect
National Maritime Museum
C. F. Møller Architects has designed the extension of The National Maritime Museum in London, Britain’s seventh largest tourist attraction and part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. The new wing, called The Sammy Ofer Wing – named after the international shipping magnate and philanthropist Sammy Ofer, who has funded most of £36.5m extension – was inaugurated on the 12th of July with the participation of among others the British Prince Philip. On Thursday 14th of July the extension opens to the public.

Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington
Date built: 1852
Design: various architects

photo © Nick Weall
Victoria & Albert Museum
A famous London building with many examples of contemporary architecture within – for example the entrance area and shop by Eva Jiricna Architects and various galleries by a range of design-led practices.