Alistair Hardaker | Images: Illustrations of how the development may look ©Architype
IWM Lab will house aircraft and tanks across 10,000 square metres from 2029, with apprenticeships and public tours.
welcomes support for the development of IWM Lab from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Bloomberg Philanthropies
The Imperial War Museums’ plans for a new conservation and storage centre has been backed by around £10m of new funding.
The centre is to be based at IWM Duxford, a branch of the Imperial War Museum in Cambridge. It will conserve and preserve the largest objects in IWM’s historic collections.
Funding is to come from a grant of up to £10m from DCMS, and support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Scheduled to open in 2029, ‘IWM Lab’ will house aircraft, tanks and other military vehicles across its 10,000 square metre footprint.
IWM Lab is also set to provide conservation, technical training and heritage skills, housing its conservation engineering team and apprenticeship programme, alongside a dedicated learning and skills facility.
Training to be provided includes the safe use of equipment, conservation treatments and techniques, and research to ensure objects are preserved appropriately and with historical accuracy.
The facility will be open to the public too, with access to IWM’s large object collection through guided tours and open days.
The planned IWM Lab is part of the wider ‘Transforming IWM Duxford’ project.
IWM’s director-general Caro Howell MBE said “Some of the largest objects in our collection are truly awe-inspiring and especially popular with younger visitors. IWM Lab will transform our ability to conserve and showcase them, while opening routes for young people into highly skilled and fulfilling careers in conservation and cultural heritage.”
