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Natural History Museum: Darwin Centre
The Darwin Centre, completed in 2009, has been a two-phase project to build a new science complex at the Natural History Museum. As well as safeguarding millions of specimens and providing new laboratories and offices for staff and visiting scientists, it offers inspirational new public spaces for visitors. Public access to the scientific core of the Darwin Centre takes the form of a visitor route through the Cocoon, overlooking the science and collection areas. Up to 2,500 visitors per day discover some of the millions of plant and insect specimens protected by the awe-inspiring structure. Interpretation and design of this new space took an imaginative approach to engaging the public with the Museum’s scientific work; highlights include atmospheric wall displays, virtual guides and animated touch-screens encouraging visitors to join in the voyage of scientific discovery.
Project cost: £78 million funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department for Media, Sport and the Arts, the Wellcome Trust, the Natural History Museum and other corporate and private donations. Design team: C F Møller Architects Some of your comments: Building the Darwin Centre was a courageous and visionary move. It has turned out to be a wonderful blending of innovative design, aesthetics and environmental concern that gives scientists a place to do their work and lets the public in to see and discuss what that work is. I love the way it shows that museums aren't just collections from the past, but are also be a bridge to the future. The past should be used to give lessons for the present and what more important lesson than providing evidence for the theory of evolution when many, irrationally, try to deny it. The 2009 award was for a museum in the north, which is great, but London offers a huge number of people access to the exhibits which will be offered. The museum is somewhat of an institution and as such should be supported to represent England as a contemporary and dynamic institution. Most people think of dinosaurs and the blue whale at the Natural History Museum but finally the Darwin Centre reveals the true scale, variety and importance of the museum's collections - and more importantly the vital scientific research undertaken at the museum. That this is all showcased and embodied in an architecturally stunning new building that will draw visitors from all over the world is the icing on the cake. The Natural History Museum more than any other museum attracts the young and the very young and keeps them interested for life. It is what a museum should be. The old is married well with the new. The museum building is stunning and awe inspiring and the contents are well laid out, diverse, stimulating, educational, informative and fun. Every time we visit London we visit The Natural History Museum; it is well run and ever evolving. The beautifully designed and creatively interactive new Darwin Centre with its Cocoon including the David Attenborough studio is an artistic and scientific achievement of which we should be lastingly proud. The Natural History Museum's intention to further public understanding of the world around us and to engage us all in discovering all its marvels and secrets, as well as its attention to detail, honesty and aesthetic and ergonomic design are inspiring and I believe will be appreciated for generations in the future. It deserves to be celebrated in this way. It is the most important centre of taxonomic research in the world with the greatest number of type specimens on which descriptions are based. Its Darwin Centre II involves a very innovative museum design that will be an inspiration for other museums in the future. The new Darwin Centre is fantastic; it's great to be able to see the scientists at work and the wonderful exhibits. I have been visiting this museum since I was a child and now bring my own children who are equally enthralled. Stunning images, fantastic artefacts, brilliant hands-on facilities for children... these are just some of the features which make the Natural History Museum the best museum of all. The museum is endlessly fascinating both to adults and children, captivating the minds of all ages and presenting an array of information second to none. The museum is a national treasure but one that is constantly evolving, a fact that recently manifested itself in the new Darwin Centre, a magnificent source of awe and wonder. Building the Darwin Centre was a courageous and visionary move. It has turned out to be a wonderful blending of innovative design, aesthetics and environmental concern that gives scientists a place to do their work and lets the public in to see and discuss what that work is. I love the way it shows that museums aren't just collections from the past, but are also be a bridge to the future. The past should be used to give lessons for the present and what more important lesson than providing evidence for the theory of evolution when many, irrationally, try to deny it. The 2009 award was for a museum in the north, which is great, but London offers a huge number of people access to the exhibits which will be offered. The museum is somewhat of an institution and as such should be supported to represent England as a contemporary and dynamic institution. Most people think of dinosaurs and the blue whale at the Natural History Museum but finally the Darwin Centre reveals the true scale, variety and importance of the museum's collections - and more importantly the vital scientific research undertaken at the museum. That this is all showcased and embodied in an architecturally stunning new building that will draw visitors from all over the world is the icing on the cake. The Natural History Museum more than any other museum attracts the young and the very young and keeps them interested for life. It is what a museum should be. The old is married well with the new. The museum building is stunning and awe inspiring and the contents are well laid out, diverse, stimulating, educational, informative and fun. Every time we visit London we visit The Natural History Museum; it is well run and ever evolving.
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The Natural History Museum houses some of the world’s most important and precious natural history collections comprising around 70 million specimens acquired over the past 300 years. Today the Museum is one of the UK’s top five visitor attractions and a world-leading science research centre. 
There are 40 interactive and audio visual stations throughout the tour that allow visitors to follow the video diaries of scientists working all over the world, pack their own kit bag to take into the field and learn about the spread and control of malaria. From the Cocoon visitors are able to see into laboratories and see real scientists in action. A microphone in the dedicated specimen sorting area allows visitors to talk directly to scientists about the work taking place that day. 
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