Redman wins museum revamp

Redman Design Associates has been selected to design new sections of Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery, the country’s oldest municipal museum outside London. The contract follows a 3.75m Heritage Lottery Fund award to the institution.

Expansion will see the museum extend into space previously occupied by the library, which has relocated. Redman will work on interiors, displays, internal graphics and retail and café areas.

Exhibition spaces will be interactive, integrating video and touch-screen technology. The consultancy won the work after a three-way credentials pitch.

Meanwhile, the Imperial War Museum wants to appoint designers by the end of June to create a scheme for its proposed northern branch. An ad was placed in the Official Journal of the European Union and Geoffrey Marsh, the IWM’s assistant director of planning and development, says most response from has been from architects. He says it is too early to seek interior or graphic designers.

The closing date for consultancies to register interest is today (28 March). The 30m project, set on a 2ha site beside the Manchester Ship Canal, is seeking Lottery funds. It aims to open in 2002, when the Commonwealth Games are being held in Manchester.