British Museum May Appeal Council Rejection of Expansion Design


Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The British Museum, whose design for a building extension was rejected by a local authority, said it’s deciding whether to appeal the decision or produce a new design.

Last month, Camden Council refused planning permission for the 135-million pound ($222 million) new wing, citing the structure’s “excessive bulk” and saying that it would be “harmful” to the existing buildings, which are on a list for their architectural importance. The plans have been drawn up by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to house a new exhibition space, as well as research and conservation areas. The Museum has six months to appeal the decision.



“The development would have provided services the museum desperately needs,” Hannah Boulton, the museum’s head of press, said in an interview yesterday. “It’s not adding to the site for the sake of it. We’ve got to find a way of addressing those needs, and haven’t decided which route we’ll go down.”



The Camden veto came days after British Museum Chairman Niall FitzGerald and Director Neil MacGregor said it had raised two-thirds of the money for the new wing and, planning permission allowing, could start building at the end of the year.

The U.K. government is giving the project 22.5 million pounds; the museum is drawing 30 million pounds from its reserves, with another 37.5 million pounds pledged by unnamed private donors, the museum said. It plans to open its new wing at the end of 2012, the year of the London Olympic Games.



Abu Dhabi Museum

Also opening in 2012 or 2013 is the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, which announced last month that the British Museum would be its “consulting partner” to advise it on design, curating, and organizing the collection. The museum will survey United Arab Emirates history and commemorate the U.A.E’s president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who died in 2004.

Boulton would not say how much the agreement would bring the British Museum, because it depended on the duration of the consultancy. Publicist Bolton & Quinn, which represents the island’s developers -- Tourism Development & Investment Company -- confirmed a report in the Sunday Times of a multimillion- pound deal.



“It’s not the British Museum Abu Dhabi: It’s providing consultancy to enable them to set the museum up,” said Boulton. “We knew they were thinking about a national museum. We went to talk to them saying we could offer them help and advice.”

The Louvre Museum and the Guggenheim Foundation are opening offshoots on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island. The Louvre has received 175 million euros ($247 million) from Abu Dhabi so far and is getting another 250 million euros between now and 2027.

To contact the writer on this story: Farah Nayeri in London at