The Museum of London has just unveiled the design for its swanky new Smithfield Market home
Smithfield Market came a step closer to redevelopment today, after its occupier-to-be, the Museum of London, unveiled the winner of the competition to design its new home.
The Museum said today if had chosen a design conceived by Stanton Williams and Asif Khan, who will now work with the museum to come up with ideas for the site, at West Smithfield.
City A.M. revealed exactly a year ago that the City of London was planning to buy Smithfield Market for £34.6m to house the museum. The Victorian market has been derelict for more than 20 years.
The new design features a "lifted landmark dome" at the entrance to the museum, as well as spiral escalators and a sunken garden, designed to provide "pockets of tranquility".
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The museum said the design "presented a concept that had a strong sense of cohesion which honoured the original market buildings as well has having a passion for the project".
“I cannot wait to get started," enthused Sharon Ament, the museum's director.
"Over the coming months we will work together to design a new museum for London and Londoners which will be one of the top visitor attractions in the capital."
“To have a chance to create a new museum for London, in London, about London, at this moment in time is incredibly exciting for us," added Khan.
"We all know the power of public spaces in changing our city and our individual lives, and this is what drives us. We want the Museum of London to be a museum where everyone belongs, and where the future of London is created."