2024

The British Museum has announced its shortlist of five architect-led consultant teams that will compete in the second stage of its International Architectural Competition. 

6a architects alongside our collaborators Advanced Integrated Solutions, Arup, David Bonnett Associates, Gitta Gschwendtner, Kellenberger-White, London School of Architecture and Purcell and  Studio ZNA are thrilled to be shortlisted. 

The competition has been set up to select a team that will work with the Museum to reimagine over a third of its gallery space. Stage two will run until December 2024, at which point there will be a display of the shortlisted candidates' entries in the Museum’s iconic Round Reading Room. The outcome of the competition will be announced in early 2025. 

The winning team will work with experts across the British Museum to develop designs for the Western Range that respond to the Museum’s sensitive historic buildings, ambitious decarbonisation plans, and the ongoing process of reimagining the display and care of collections. 

Stage one of the competition ran from 8 May to 21 June 2024, attracting over 60 team entries, ranging across six continents and an exciting range of experience; from recently formed practices to long-established firms. The competition is being run on behalf of the British Museum by Colander Associates.

The five shortlisted teams include some of the most celebrated British and international architects alongside a variety of consultants that represent a compelling mix of expertise from a wide range of perspectives.

Photograph; The British Museum, 6a architects

Stephanie Macdonald and Tom Emerson RA , Habitat at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2024

Habitat, a giclée print, Edition of 50 is on display in the Wohl Central Hall at the Royal Academy of Arts until 18th August 2024 and available online from the RA

Bath and North East Somerset Council today announced 6a architects is appointed to design the new Fashion Museum Bath. Sophie McKinlay, Project Lead, for the Fashion Museum Bath, said “6a has an exceptional creative vision matched with an outstanding track record for reimagining historic cultural spaces; I have no doubt 6a will be the perfect partners to deliver something very special for Fashion Museum Bath.  We’re excited to work together on our vision to create spaces which inspire our visitors, celebrate our extraordinary collection of historic dress, and welcome the community to engage with the transformative power of fashion.”

The Fashion Museum Bath will be the only museum in the UK dedicated to the history and heritage of British fashion. The landmark project will preserve and transform Bath’s Grade II listed Old Post Office into a state-of-the-art 21st-century cultural institution housing museum galleries and learning spaces, and serving as a hub for local, national, and international communities.

Photograph; Old Post Office in 1943 (Postal Museum)