This year has seen Purcell’s Cultural Sector team attend the International Museums Construction Congress for the first time.
Purcell Chairman and Cultural Sector Lead Liz Smith, and Edinburgh Studio Lead Lorna Crane attended the congress, held in venues across the beautiful World Heritage Site of Edinburgh.
The IMCC 2024 united museum leaders and design professionals from countries across the world. Talks, panel discussions, and networking sessions explored a focus on intersections between environmental, social, and governance in museum design and construction capital programmes.
Confidence was palpable amongst speakers and attendees that through ambitious capital projects museums of the future will have the power to address global challenges, from access for all, to climate change. The IMCC boldly stated that “we want to re-discover museums’ ‘Superpowers’ and their role in civic society”.
The conference began with an optimistic view from Museum Insider on £6.9bn forecast on capital projects planned to UK museums and heritage places over the next five years – and much work to look forward to in Scotland.
The IMCC in progress
Trends identified were: continued major projects at the big national museums, enhanced regional investment in cultural provision for ‘left behind’ communities across the UK and Ireland, and an emerging trend for new types of visitor attraction in derelict industrial sites and abandoned infrastructure.
Divergent views on the enormous pipeline of projects in Saudi Arabia was a key topic of debate as we enthusiastically explored potential collaborations as consultant relationships were formed. The conference compared museum capital projects from across the globe, celebrating successes and sharing lessons learned. Focus was placed on the value of good quality sustainable design in museum spaces, with particular emphasis on adaptive reuse and retrofit of historic buildings.
From the National Trust of Scotland’s adaptive reuse of vernacular buildings to support economic sustainability and continued way of life for Hebridean communities, to complexities of restitution discussed around the ‘Stone of Destiny’ at Perth Museum, to challenges of reconciling renovation of the gilded 1935 mansion of the Frick Collection in New York with achieving museum sustainability.
Visuals for Melbourne Arts Precinct, one of our international cultural projects
Architecture commissions for new museums continue to go to star architects – but appetite for collaboration grows. Our RIBA Stirling Prize shortlisting for NPG, our role on NG200, and our inclusion in four of the five shortlisted teams for the British Museum Western Range competition meant our name was already well known at IMCC. Our approach to sustainably, reimagining heritage to create spaces that benefit planet and community perfectly positioned Purcell for continued excellence in world class museums.
The message was clear throughout. Purpose and success of capital projects (and their resultant museum spaces) must be shaped, managed, and measured by their social impact and their relationship with communities as well as audiences. Museum projects must be rooted in a holistic view of architecture’s role in ensuring a sustainable society.
