Lina Ghotmeh Architecture (LGA) won the nine-month, two-phase competition for the renovation of the British Museum's Western Range Galleries among more than 60 firms from all over the world, marking a milestone in the history of the celebrated institution. The project, aimed at transforming and modernising the exhibition spaces by improving the visitor experience and the conservation of pieces, concerns the section located to the west of the Great Court, which covers approximately one third of the galleries and includes some of the most prestigious collections, including Egyptian sculptures, Parthenon marbles and Assyrian artefacts. 

An “archaeological” interpretation of the space, re-imagined to valorize the artefacts and consign them to the future, and a scrupulous attention to sustainability and the use of natural materials, characterised the proposal, which was unanimously accepted as the best by the jury.

In the words of Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum: “Lina Ghotmeh is an architect of extraordinary grace and gravitas. Her team’s proposals demonstrated an exceptional and materially sensitive architectural vision for the British Museum, and their ‘archaeological’ approach clearly understood the ambition for this project to be as much an intellectual transformation as an architectural one. Lina and her team have a track record for delivering unique and human-centred design with a timeless elegance".
The details of the project design are not yet revealed, but the expectation to see how this iconic place will be transformed is up to the challenge undertaken by the designer.