Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
The Trustees of the British Museum
The British Museum, Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3DG
Telephone
+44 2073238000
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKI - London
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Recreation, culture and religion
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
British Museum Western Range Competition to find an Architect-Led Design Team
Reference number
BM.24.028
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 71200000 - Architectural and related services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Please note this is a Contract Award Notice to announce the conclusion of the procurement it is not a new opportunity.
The British Museum is delighted to launch this international competition to choose a visionary, architect-led design team to work with the Museum to develop an extraordinary design for a significant part of its Bloomsbury site: The Western Range.
This is an important commission to re-envisage and transform key parts of the main, iconic site in Bloomsbury. This will be the Museum’s biggest building project since the 1820s, when work commenced on the original quadrangle.
The ambition is significant: to restore the Western Range and, in so doing, reimagine a third of the existing gallery area, deliver improved collections storage and create new amenities to enhance the visitor experience, making the collection as accessible as possible to all the Museum’s audiences.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £28,286,352 / Highest offer: £47,477,472 taken into consideration
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 71311000 - Civil engineering consultancy services
- 71312000 - Structural engineering consultancy services
- 71320000 - Engineering design services
- 71321000 - Engineering design services for mechanical and electrical installations for buildings
- 92521100 - Museum-exhibition services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKI - London
Main site or place of performance
LONDON
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Please note this is a Contract Award Notice to announce the conclusion of the procurement it is not a new opportunity.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
The primary aim of this project is to enhance the visitor experience and offer the Museum a series of renewed gallery and collection storage spaces that allow the extraordinary permanent collections to be cared for, researched and displayed for modern audiences. Importantly the Museum is also looking to resolve the current problems it is facing of an overcomplex and constricted site with a dilapidating building stock that is poorly suited to its requirements. The complexity of the site and the scope of work requires the appointed design team to include many different skills, possibly from different organisations. There are three key strands to the work:
BUILDING DESIGN
The new Western Range will include gallery spaces, visitor welfare and circulation facilities, collection stores and research spaces. Each element will need to be sensitively designed within an architecture that respects the existing, while introducing powerful new interventions. The winning team will need to satisfy a range of stakeholders and secure listed building consents, expressed functionality, required adjacencies, ambitious sustainability criteria, and day-to-day requirements for maintenance and maintainability.
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
The interior layout and design of the visitor experience and amenities will play an important role in the success of this project, including arrival, circulation and way-finding routes. The winning team will understand how to create inviting vistas across the site, making best use of natural light, the juxtaposition of internal volumes and passive ventilation to enhance visitors’ enjoyment of the new museum experience. Accessibility and comfort for all is a given and consideration of seating and rest areas will need to be incorporated at the earliest stage of the design.
GALLERY EXHIBITION DESIGN
Given the long-term phasing of this project, the Museum is proposing three gallery exhibition packages for the permanent galleries in the new Western Range: only the first of these is an integral part of this competition brief. The gallery displays that will be included within this first package are dependent on the overall approach to phasing of the project and will therefore be determined, with the successful team, following the completion of RIBA Stage 2 design. Please note that the new galleries may well house different collections, as the Museum’s site-wide redisplay strategy is developed. This means that the winning team will need to include gallery exhibition designers with evidenced understanding of museology who can work alongside the Museum’s own curatorial and content teams and deliver gallery spaces that astound the world within the first phase of work. As well as delivering the designs for the first phase of galleries, the winning team must be able to create a building design that allows future design teams to
insert new galleries into latter phases of the project, allowing for varied creative voices to be involved in the long-term design of the project, ensuring an end-design that is vibrant, integrated and bespoke for each gallery.
The estimated total value of the contract stated in this Contract Notice is derived from an order of magnitude assessment of the construction value of the Western Range programme based on project work to date and must be treated as indicative only. The duration dates for the overall programme are also indicative only and are subject to change
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 75%
Price - Weighting: 25%
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Restricted procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2024/S 000-014691
Section five. Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
11 September 2025
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 5
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Lina Gotmeh
75 rue de la Fontaine au Roi
Paris
75011
Country
France
NUTS code
- FR101 - Paris
National registration number
824 242 259 00029
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Ove Arup & Partners Limited
8 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 4BJ
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
National registration number
1312453
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £28,286,352 / Highest offer: £47,477,472 taken into consideration
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=982556207 GO Reference: GO-20251010-PRO-32709430
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Public Procurement Review Service
London
SW1A 2AS
publicprocurementreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
12 Bloomsbury Square
London
WC1A 2LP
Country
United Kingdom