British Museum

Long-term stewardship and conservation

Introduction

Purcell has played a continuous role in the architectural and conservation story of the British Museum for nearly three decades. Since the development of the museum’s first conservation management plan (CMP) in 1999, our work has evolved into a deep and collaborative relationship. It spans strategic planning, heritage consultancy, and architectural design and implementation across one of the most significant Grade I-listed public buildings in the UK.

We have been involved in several projects to sensitively repair and re-present various galleries and visitor facilities, including the Round Reading Room, the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre, and the new design and creation of the RIBA Award-winning Waddesdon Bequest Gallery. Our work balances the museum’s need for modern, flexible space with a commitment to protect and reveal its historic fabric.

The Western Range Competition

In early 2025, the winning team for the competition to redesign the British Museum’s Western Range was announced. Purcell will support Lina Ghotmeh Architects as executive and conservation architects on the project.

The redesign of the Western Range, encompassing the museum’s galleries to the west of the Great Court, will be one of the biggest cultural renovation projects undertaken anywhere in the world. The project will transform the museum’s visitor experience as well as creating new spaces for the museum’s collections.

The Western Range includes all the galleries to the west of the Great Court, housing the museum’s greatest objects from ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Rome, Assyria, and the Middle East. The museum is now embarking on the biggest renovation project in their history – rebuilding and restoring the Western Range Galleries to make them suitable for the 21st century. The project also involves rethinking how the museum collection is presented, to encourage us all to think creatively and critically about the connections and contrasts between and across cultures.

'We are delighted to be part of the multi-disciplinary design team assembled by Lina Ghotmeh to continue our relationship with the British Museum and to contribute to this significant project in the Museum’s evolution.'

– Alasdair Travers, Major Projects Partner, Purcell

Competition submissions by Lina Ghotmeh Architects

Reinstating elegance: The Waddesdon Bequest

The Waddesdon Bequest Gallery is located in the Middle Room, originally a reading room for the British Library and one of the oldest surviving interiors of the museum. The gallery re-presents a collection of extraordinary medieval and Renaissance artefacts bequeathed in 1898 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, as well as a number of 19th-century fakes, providing a fascinating picture of the development of the art market in that period.

As conservation architect, our approach combined scholarly rigour with technical sensitivity. Our conservation philosophy prioritised minimal intervention and reversibility, reusing historic elements wherever possible. Joinery was carefully repaired, original book press doors reinstated, and existing finishes sensitively conserved. We also introduced bespoke display structures that could be easily removed to return the space to its original state, if necessary.

The structural realignment of the bowed north balcony allowed for the removal of intrusive iron brackets, restoring the room’s original symmetry. This offered a clean presentation of the space, in keeping with its original elegance and character. The resulting gallery significantly improves the display of precious objects while echoing the atmosphere of Waddesdon Manor’s Smoking Room, where the collection once lived.

Masterplanning for resilience

In 2012, Purcell created the British Museum’s Long Term Development Framework—a ten-year masterplan to enhance the visitor experience across the complex site. It tackled key challenges such as high visitor numbers, accessibility, revenue generation, and spatial inefficiencies in the Great Court and galleries.

Working with the museum and stakeholders, we proposed strategic reuses of spaces like the Round Reading Room and main entrances, and reimagined the Great Court as a more welcoming, functional hub. Plans included new café, retail, and ticketing facilities, all integrated within the historic fabric.

In collaboration with Buro Happold, we used environmental engineering expertise and people movement analysis to inform data-driven design. Simulations and activity mapping guided improvements for both daily use and large events, enhancing efficiency and visitor comfort.

Conservation and reinterpretation

As conservation architect, Purcell has led key projects across the British Museum site, most notably managing the heritage interface on the £250m World Conservation and Exhibition Centre (WCEC), developed with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

Other work includes repairs to the Manuscript Saloon, a feasibility study for the Round Reading Room’s ceiling and roof, and the design of gallery spaces such as the Palestine and Cracherode Rooms.

Details

Client The British Museum
Team London Studio
Location London
Country United Kingdom
Listing Status Grade I

Press

The Guardian: This article is more than 3 months old ‘There’s a poetry to her work’: why the British Museum chose Lina Ghotmeh for their grand revamp