Parts of McAlpine’s Museum of London scheme to be delayed by two years as costs spiral

Parts of the Museum of London’s new home at West Smithfield will now open up to two years later than planned because of spiralling costs, Building can reveal.

The scheme to relocate the museum from its former Barbican base has been split into two phases, with the transformation of Smithfield’s Poultry Market not set to complete until as late as 2028, according to museum director Sharon Ament.

The museum, which started construction in 2020 and will be one of the largest in the capital when fully completed, had been due to open its doors 2026.

Sir Robert McAlpine was officially appointed around two weeks ago to build the scheme, which has been designed by Stanton Williams, Asif Khan and Julian Harrap. The project team also includes cost consultant Gardiner & Theobald, project manager Buro Four, planning consultants Gerald Eve and Donald Insall Associates, structural engineer AKT II and services engineer Arup.

Enabling works being carried out by Keltbray at the grade II-listed market buildings are nearing completion with construction work on the section of the museum which will be housed in the General Market, which is still due to open on schedule in 2026, now underway.

Originally conceived with a price tag of £150m, the budget had already more than doubled by the time an architectural competition had concluded in 2016. In January 2020, museum bosses revealed the cost had risen again to £337m due to “construction inflation”.

This figure, which was announced prior to soaring construction material inflation in 2021 and 2022 caused by the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is now believed to have ballooned to around £500m, according to a source close to the project.

>> Costs at Museum of London project jump again

>> McAlpine set for £330m Museum of London scheme

Under its 2020 funding plan, the museum was to commit £70m to the project, with the mayor of London providing another £70m and the City of London coughing up the rest, which at that time stood at around £200m.

The museum is now undertaking further fundraising efforts, mainly from private investors and philanthropists.

Ament said the “Poultry Market will not be finished until 2027 or 2028”, telling Building the scheme is set to cost “a lot more” than originally planned while admitting financing the project had become “really tough”.

In a statement, the museum said: “Factors such as inflation and the rising cost of construction all have an impact and we are continuing to closely monitor our budgets.

“We are working together with our project team, the City of London Corporation, and the Greater London Authority to review anticipated costs and will share an update in due course.”

The section of the museum located within the General Market, which dates to the early 1880s, will contain exhibitions with the themes of “our time” and “past time”.

Exhibitions in the delayed section housed within the Poultry Market building, which was constructed in the early 1960s, will focus on the themes of “imagined time”, “temporary time” and “deep time”.

A network of Victorian tunnels beneath the market buildings will contain the bulk of the museum’s historic collections, with contemporary pieces to be exhibited in the above ground spaces.

More than 100m of previously unknown tunnels were discovered during enabling works after site workers broke through a sealed up wall. Inside was found a pair of wooden carts, some shelves and a single oyster shell.