Current Tenders & Competitions

In 2027, the Natural History Museum will open a new, permanent gallery in South Kensington dedicated to building a positive connection to nature in their very youngest audiences - aged 4-7 years old - and their adults.

This brand-new gallery will be a place where visitors delight in the dazzling variety of life on Earth, from the very small to the very tall, and discover that all life – including us! – shares the same needs. It will deliver inspiring stories that celebrate diversity and welcome in the widest possible audience of children and their adults. It will combine world-leading collections with hands-on and multi-sensory interactives that evoke joy, empathy and care.

There are two possible options for the gallery:

Option A is focused on the internal refurbishment (only) of the original internal space – providing a beautiful and refreshed building fabric as context for a new permanent exhibition. The team would be expected to replicate or adapt many of the precedents established in the recent restoration of the Western Waterhouse Building Galleries, and the approach should follow the designs, methodologies and specifications established from this restoration – with a more limited scope.

Option B expands scope to a full overhaul of building fabric - the full retrofit and replacement of the roof including improvement of thermal insulation, glazing, roof falls and associated detailing, access walkways, egress, shading systems and lighting. The internal refurbishment (as Option A) which also includes the replacement of all MEP services with an option to potentially (funding dependent) refurbishment or fully replace the plantroom AHU and chiller. As noted above, the team would be expected to replicate or adapt what has been established from the Western Waterhouse Building Galleries refurbishment.