British Museum looking for cost consultant on 11-year gallery redevelopment scheme

The British Museum is looking to appoint a cost consultant and contract administrator on its plans to transform a third of its galleries.

Trustees of the Bloomsbury museum have published a contract notice calling for interested firms to bid for the £4.5m, 11-year role on the Western Range project.

The scheme will see the redevelopment of around 15,000 sq m of floor space which the museum says is in need of urgent “repair and re-imagining”.

This encompasses around 7,500 sq m of gallery space, including the parts of the museum which houses its ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome collections and the controversial Elgin Marbles, along with 4,500 sq m of back of house storage space.

Five design teams have been shortlisted for the job, including teams led by David Chipperfield Architects, Eric Parry Architects and OMA. A winner is expected to be announced early in the new year.

>> See also: British Museum announces shortlist for Western Range galleries project

The Western Range consists of a group of separate buildings which have been added to the original grade I-listed museum building over time, and the exact site outline and phasing for the project is yet to be finalised. 

The cost consultant will work with the chosen design team from RIBA stages two to seven which, the museum said, will deliver an “architecturally significant, long-lasting, robust intervention, founded on an effective approach to sustainability”.

This will aim to address issues with the existing buildings while setting reimagined displays of collections in new, permanent gallery spaces envisaged as “engaging contemporary architecture, in juxtaposition to the highly significant and already celebrated listed buildings on the site”.

Interested firms have until 8 January to send in tenders, with five firms expected to be shortlisted for the job.