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First look inside Manchester Museum as £15m redevelopment continues

Image: Manchester Museum under construction (Manchester Museum)

The ‘hello future’ capital development project is expected to be complete in February 2023.

Manchester Museum has revealed a new look inside its neo-Gothic building as its £15m capital development project, ‘hello future’, continues.

The museum, which is closed to the public while construction continues, said work is on schedule to complete six months from now for a February 2023 opening.

The development has been supported by Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The University of Manchester, and numerous philanthropic supporters.

The transformation includes a new Exhibition Hall, the South Asia Gallery – a British Museum Partnership, the Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery, and a new entrance and visitor facilities.

A two-storey extension will increase the building’s footprint and house the new Exhibition Hall on the ground floor, while the first floor will house the South Asia Gallery.

The extension is clad in green-glazed terracotta tiles to pay homage to Victorian and Edwardian period buildings across Manchester.

The accessible entrance from Manchester’s Oxford Road is currently under construction, while over eighteen thousand objects have had to be moved or protected from the work.

Esme Ward, Manchester Museum Director: “We are extending the building, making room for more joy and learning and evolving into the museum Manchester needs. Galleries and exhibitions will showcase the best of the museum’s historic collections, as well as addressing the urgencies of the present day. We can’t wait to reopen our doors in just six months’ time.”