Member Article

Mather & Co to re-imagine Ipswich Museum after a £4.3m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Ipswich Museum has been awarded with a £4.3m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund that’s made possible by National Lottery players.

The museum is home to an extensive range of collections from natural science to Egyptology, social history to world cultures. Its founder John Henslow was Darwin’s tutor and the Museum contains collections unique to the area and broader pioneering science.

Councillor Carole Jones, Portfolio Holder for Museums for Colchester Borough Council said, “We are delighted to receive this support, thanks to National Lottery players. This redevelopment will do something really special and imaginative with our wonderful collections, in a building that was specifically designed to showcase them to the public. We are looking forward to working with the people of Ipswich and the Heritage Fund to inspire a new generation through Ipswich Museum.”

Leading museum designers, Mather & Co, and architects Pringle Richards Sharratt won a competitive tender to redevelop the museum. Mather & Co will be responsible for designing nine galleries, a new café, reception and retail areas - bringing a contemporary vision to the original 19th century museum building. They also completed an Interpretation and Design Report to support the museum’s application to win the Heritage Fund grant.

Sarah Clarke, Managing Director at Mather & Co said: “We are so pleased Ipswich Museum has received the funding to make this project possible. As the museum designers, we want to start a fresh conversation about the collections held at the Museum – whilst gathering new stories that accurately represent the Ipswich community, heritage and communities and heritage of those the collections are related to.”

The redevelopment of Ipswich Museum is planned to be completed by Easter 2025.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kelsey Mulvey .