25 Sep 2015
Natural History Museum's multi-million facelift follows 'three great narratives'
BY Tom Anstey
London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) is to undergo a multi-million pound transformation of its grounds as part of an overall redevelopment of the popular tourist attraction.
Niall McLaughlin Architects, in collaboration with Kim Wilkie, won a competition to redesign the grounds of the London attraction in April 2014.
As part of a larger strategy, NHM is adopting "three great narratives", which will guide visitors around the museum based on the origins and evolution of life, the diversity of life on Earth today, and the long-term sustainability of humans' custodianship of the planet. The areas of the grounds will also follow these themes.
Set against the backdrop of Sir Alfred Waterhouse’s 1880 Grade I listed building, the redevelopment and landscaping – which is set to take place between 2017 and 2020 – will feature a café and exhibition space below ground, on top of which will sit a new green square at street level. There will also be a research garden for monitoring the city’s ecosystem.
The museum’s famous Diplodocus – “Dippy”, which will be ousted from the institution's main hall in favour of a blue whale skeleton, finds a new home in the gardens, with the popular plaster-cast skeleton being recast in bronze so as to survive the elements.
In the east, where the bronze Diplodocus will be located, a geological walkway will feature plants with a long history such as ferns and cycads, and in the west, a more modern environment will use plants and foliage found in watercourses, meadows and woodlands.
The redevelopment is designed to improve flow around NHM, with a new entry point into the grounds opening via the pedestrian tunnel coming from South Kensington Tube station, relinking the museum with the immediate vicinity of the recently pedestrianised Exhibition Road.
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