Alistair Hardaker | Image: A design for the new British Museum welcome pavilion (Studio Weave)
Heritage body recommends refusal of two temporary welcome structures in forecourts, citing harm to listed building.
The Georgian Society has objected to planning applications for two visitor welcome pavilions in the forecourts of the British Museum.
Camden Council has received applications for planning permission and listed building consent for pavilions in the northern and southern forecourts.
The proposals include queuing and wayfinding infrastructure, railings, seating and new landscaping. Consent is sought for a temporary period of up to ten years.
The pavilions were designed by a team led by Studio Weave, with Wright & Wright Architects, Webb Yates Engineers, Tom Massey Studio and Daisy Froud, announced as the winning design team in January 2025. The pavilions are part of the museum’s longer-term Masterplan and were expected to be in place by spring 2026.
First look at initial designs for British Museum’s new visitor welcome pavilions
The Georgian Society has recommended refusal, stating the proposals would cause an unacceptable level of harm to the significance of the site.
The society said the proposed pavilion would partially obscure views of the southern elevation from Great Russell Street and within the forecourt, disrupting the building’s symmetry and undermining its setting.
The society said proposed informal landscaping would be visually incongruous in the formal setting. It stated the forecourt was deliberately designed as a formal prelude to the portico and colonnade.
The British Museum was designed by Sir Robert Smirke. The society stated in its objection that the building’s monumental portico, symmetry and formal composition are fundamental to its significance, as is its relationship with the forecourt, railings and surrounding Bloomsbury townscape.
The society considers the proposals would result in a high level of harm to the significance of the listed building, its setting and the wider conservation area.
Last year, Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, said the plans were hoped to create the most inspiring greeting possible for the 6.2 million people (and counting) from across the nation and around the world who come through our doors each year”, and Studio Weave’s plans “perfectly balance a thoughtful visitor experience while remaining true to the British Museum’s historic building.”
