For immediate release: Wednesday 20 December 1995
The Natural History Museum has been awarded a grant of £6,058,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to transform the former Geological Museum into the most exciting and advanced Earth Science galleries anywhere in the world. The redevelopment includes stunning new designs for a vast central atrium and for the exhibitions which will occupy three gallery floors.
Professor Paul Henderson the Museum's Science Director said today: "We are delighted by this excellent news. This grant will enable The Natural History Museum to create a sorely needed museum for the earth sciences that is modern, stimulating and attractive. This planet of ours is a dynamic and intriguing world. Visitors will be able to explore the Earth, its often beautiful materials, its fascinating history, and the processes that go on both above and below the surface. By using our magnificent collections and the very best in exhibition techniques, we will make this important and exciting area of science accessible to all. This is good news for everyone."
Phase I of the new Earth Galleries scheme will open to the public in July 1996. It includes an imposing new atrium to be created in the central space of the building, entitled 'Visions of Earth' and two new exhibitions. The first exhibition, 'The Power Within', deals with the power and scale of processes at work in the Earth such as volcanoes and earthquakes, and the second, 'Restless Surface', reveals how sun-driven agents of change - wind, rain and pounding waves - have shaped the landscape over millions of years.
The RTZ Atrium sets the scene, introducing visitors to the range of topics the galleries will tackle. Six giant statues dominate the space - each one exploring a basic theme about our understanding of the Earth. An escalator will transport visitors from the ground floor, through the centre of a revolving globe 11 metres in diameter, and into the new exhibitions. Vast 15 metre high walls of etched slate rise on either side of the globe, decorated on one side with the solar system, and on the other, by a celestial map. The walls will house illuminated showcases displaying 40 of the most stunning specimens from the Museum's world-renowned collections.
Phase II and III, to open in summer 1998, include three further exhibitions. 'From the Beginning' looks in detail at the dramatic story of the formation of the Earth, 'The Earth's Treasury' will display the Museum's internationally renowned collection of minerals and gemstones and 'The Useful Earth' will explain how people use the Earth's limited mineral and energy products - natural gas, coal, nuclear fuel, metal ores - upon which our modern way of life depends.
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Note to Editors: Total funding to realise the scheme is £12 million. The total grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund is £6.058,000. The RTZ Corporation PLC is the lead sponsor with support of £1 million, which results in the central atrium space being named the RTZ Atrium. The remainder of the funds has been drawn from a grant of £300,000 from the Museum's and Galleries Improvement Fund, support from BTR plc and the Museum's grant-in-aid. This funding enabled construction work on the redevelopment of the new Earth Galleries to begin on 1 November 1995.
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact the Press Office on 0171-938 9388.
Ref:71/2012/95/SB
Issued: December 1995
