Wellcome Collection

Interior spiral stairwell of the Wellcome Centre

The Wellcome Collection provides a forum for the public to explore the connections between medicine, life and art.

Location

London, United Kingdom

Status

Completed

Year

2015

Experience

Cultural

Education

Re Use

Interiors

Awards

AJ Retrofit Awards, Cultural Buildings Winner, 2016

Civic Trust Award, Commendation, 2016

Structural Steel Design Award, Merit, 2017

Wellcome Trust launched Wellcome Collection in 2007, based in the Trust’s former 1930s headquarters in central London. WilkinsonEyre has transformed the venue, creating new galleries and spaces to meet the overwhelming demand the Collection has enjoyed. The visitor experience is enriched through a more legible public entrance and an expanded atrium.

Crucially, a new dynamic staircase encourages better circulation between the ground and second floors, inviting visitors to the refurbished Research Library, existing and new gallery spaces and a destination restaurant.

The redevelopment creates a major new thematic gallery which hosts year-long exhibitions and a dedicated youth events studio space to support a wide range of activities including workshops, performances and discussion events.

The Hub, a new interdisciplinary research centre, and a Science Media Centre, also encourage engagement and collaborations between the scientific community and the public.

Interior working space at the Wellcome Centre

Science Museum

WilkinsonEyre’s long association with the UK’S Science Museum began with the Challenge of Materials Gallery in 1997, dedicated to the diversity of materials and their uses.

Magna

WilkinsonEyre won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2001 for this transformation of a redundant steelworks to create the UK's first Science Adventure Centre.

Mary Rose Museum

WilkinsonEyre was commissioned to design a museum to permanently house and display the wreck of Henry VIII’s favourite warship to the public.