Museum of Science and Industry gets green light for £6.2m development

THE Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester has received planning permission and listed building consent to build its new £6.2m special exhibition gallery.

It has also received £300,000 in funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation.
 
The new gallery will be built in the basement of the museum’s Grade I-listed 1830 Warehouse – the world’s first railway warehouse – and underneath the arches of the 1830 viaduct, part of the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway.

The building of the new gallery will allow the museum to carry out conservation work on these unique heritage buildings, making careful repairs and revealing the original brick arches.

The new gallery, which is expected to open in around two years, will allow the museum to create and bring world-class science exhibitions to Manchester and create opportunities for creative science engagement for its audiences.

The museum is working on the new gallery with London-based architectural practice Carmody Groarke, which has a reputation for working internationally on a wide range of arts, cultural, heritage and residential projects.

Carmody Groarke’s current work includes the new Windermere Jetty Museum in the Lake District; a major renovation of Dorset County Museum in Dorchester; and a new Members Room for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Carmody Groarke’s completed projects include the New Architecture Gallery at the Royal Institute of British Architects’ headquarters in London; the Permanent Memorial to the 7 July bombings in Hyde Park, London; Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre Clatterbridge in Liverpool, and a contemporary gallery for White Cube at Glyndebourne in Sussex.

Sally MacDonald, director of the Museum of Science and Industry, said: “This is such an exciting project for us, and marks the start of a long-term ambition to transform the museum over the next 10 to 15 years or so.

“The new building will be a significant resource for the cultural offer of Manchester, and gives us a facility where we can inspire young people and adults with creative science and STEM subjects. We are now looking forward to getting started with the work.”