Cultural

With almost eight decades of award-winning experience on World Heritage Sites, country house estates, national museums, and major art galleries to local theatres, libraries, and artists’ studios, we are experts in shaping cultural infrastructure.

Reinterpreting heritage and celebrating creativity, we craft memorable spaces for inspiring cultural experiences with sustainable futures.

Whether we are leading research, revitalising a historic building or envisioning transformative design, our focus is to enable inclusive visitor enjoyment and creative production for all. We collaborate with others, lead meaningful community engagement, and co-design with stakeholders to make places that express identity and support modern needs for contemporary culture, while preserving historic context and significance.

We are experts in the environmental and technical requirements of museum, gallery and arts venue design, and adept at attaining major funding from key cultural sector sources including National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England (UK). We create welcoming, accessible, adaptable, practical, and engaging environments that are joyful and unique, reflecting the cultural values of the activities they house.

Museums and galleries

Across the globe from Tasmania to Scotland, and from contemporary art to ancient archaeology, we collaborate and curate, bringing collections to new audiences. We design sustainable stable environments for display and co-create inspiring visitor experiences.

Our award-winning capital projects creating new regional museums and transforming national institutions, long-term strategic framework masterplans, decarbonisation programmes and more, Purcell brings leading heritage expertise, excellence in museum design, and proven experience in attaining cultural sector funding.

Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Art

Historic houses and heritage visitor attractions

For over 75 years, Purcell has been working with royal palaces, country house estates, and castles and ruins across the UK and beyond – leading conservation plans, restoration strategies, visitor experience masterplans, collection display and interpretation projects, and sustainable refurbishment. From project outset, we enable meaningful community engagement and lead thoughtful user group co-design to build vibrant connections between treasured historic places and their local communities.

Spaces for learning

Our education sector experience combines with our museum expertise to create engaging spaces in our designs for learning and education centres at heritage places, allowing schools and community groups to access history, culture, and nature in inspiring environments.

The Roden Centre for Creative Learning

Cultural buildings play an increasingly vital role in sustaining communities by providing gathering places and supporting cultural initiatives for local people. Through sustainable and energy-efficient environmentally responsible design we ensure longevity in the places we craft. Our architecture resonates with the identity and heritage of the places in which we work, creating future opportunities to enhance quality of life and the social fabric of our communities.

'The project will make portraiture accessible to many who might not have previously thought it was for them. It has made the gallery a genuine cultural hub within the heart of the West End. It has been a mammoth job and I hope all our visitors admire this historic transformation.'

– David Ross, Chairman of Trustees, National Portrait Gallery

Libraries and archives

Balancing the challenges and constraints of historic buildings with opportunities for heritage interpretation and conservation, we are highly skilled in creating practical designs for close environment control, including storage solutions for diverse and sensitive materials, reading room layouts, and circulation systems. We design spaces which that are user-friendly, accessible and engaging: fostering exploration, research, and study.

In numbers

£11m+

secured in NLHF funding in 2025 so far

3

Art Fund Museum of the Year Shortlistings in the past five years

5

times winners of the Europa Nostra International Award for Cultural Heritage

Places for performance and creativity

Our experience making specialist spaces for making art, fashion, and music focuses on rehabilitating historic buildings as performance venues or homes of creative industry. We listen and respond to clients and communities to build practical, flexible, and sustainable spaces that inspire joyful production and memorable experiences.

JCA ACADEMY AT BOSTON MANOR HOUSE

Research and thought leadership

Beyond architecture, masterplanning and heritage consultancy, we lead pioneering research for national and international cultural institutions. This has recently included authoring and publishing the DCMS Guide to Cultural Infrastructure in England, and leading innovative research on decarbonisation of national museums.

RAAC IN LISTED BUILDINGS REPORT