Images of the upcoming London Museum in Smithfield, by architecture studios Stanton Williams and Asif Khan with conservation architects Julian Harrap Architects, have been released ahead of its opening later this year.
The museum, which will showcase London’s history and replace the existing Museum of London that is set to be demolished, will be located in the former Smithfield general market.
Smithfield’s 19th-century interior is being restored and updated by Stanton Williams and Khan alongside Julian Harrap Architects, with the museum spread out over three interconnected spaces called Real Time, Our Time and Past Time.
Images of the museum show Victorian pillars and beams that will be exposed in the exhibition spaces.
Visitors will enter the museum via a covered former street that will become the museum’s main entrance and form the section called Real Time.
Moving into the museum, they will visit the central Our Time space in Smithfield’s Linbury Hall.
This will sit under Smithfield Market’s central dome, which has been newly restored (top image).
This area will have 13 large displays that showcase recent London history, with a focus on culture.
Underground, in the Past Time section, London Museum will feature a series of permanent galleries set at the old Roman street level.
Here, visitors can learn about the history of London, stretching from its prehistoric inhabitants to Roman times and more recent history, such as the Blitz and the London Olympics.
The Past Time section will also feature a six-metre viewing window through which visitors will be able to watch trains from the Thameslink line pass by.
The renovation of the historic Smithfield Market buildings led to the rediscovery of an 800-square-metre system of underground vaults, as well as a perimeter of heritage shopfronts.
According to the London Museum, it will be a “green museum” and is “set to rank among the top one per cent of buildings worldwide with a BREEAM Outstanding sustainability rating.” It is set to open on November 28.
The controversial demolition of the existing Museum of London is set to go ahead after a legal challenge contesting the plans was dismissed in court earlier this year.
The photography is courtesy of London Museum.
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