Pavilions to replace tents and barriers currently used by museum visitors
Studio Weave’s plans for two entrance pavilions for the British Museum have been unanimously approved by Camden council.
The Visitor Welcome Project is aiming to “dramatically improve” the arrival experience for 6.5 million people who visit the museum each year by reducing the pressure of queues on surrounding pavements.
Councillors voted in favour of a recommendation to approved the scheme by planning officers at a meeting of Camden’s planning committee yesterday evening.
The scheme, which is being supported by a £10.3 million pledge from the Garfield Weston Foundation, will replace the temporary tents and barriers which currently serve as the museum’s main public entrances.
It will also include a pair of gardens on the south forecourt designed by Tom Massey Studio and remodel the museum’s north entrance to better integrate it with Montague Place.
Several heritage groups objected to the scheme, including the Georgian Group, the Victorian Society and the Bloomsbury Association, which argued the two pavilions would disrupt the symmetry of the museum building and were out of keeping with its neoclassical architecture.
However, Historic England stopped short of raising an objection despite admitting the scheme would alter the setting and character of the museum’s main approaches.
The heritage advisor said the plans had been developed “positively” in response to operational requirements, and the removal of the existing tents and barriers would improve the site’s public realm.
Planning officers concluded the scheme would create a more “human, welcome and attractice” environment for museum visitors, adding that the design team’s proposals demonstrated a ”thoughtful and sensitive approach to design, materiality and architectural language, balancing multiple and complex constraints”.
Other firms working on the project include Wright & Wright Architects, Alan Baxter Heritage Consultants, AECOM and Daisy Froud.
The Studio Weave team was selected in 2025 from a competition shortlist which included Publica, Periscope and East Architecture.
In February last year, Lina Ghotmeh was announced as the winner of a competition to redesign a third of the museum’s galleries, including the space which houses the controversial Elgin Marbles.
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