Museum projects scoop 67m of Lottery funding

Culture Secretary Chris Smith has awarded a total of 67m for the development and refurbishment of 14 museums in the second round of the Major Museums and Archives Assessment Programme.

Somerset House Trust has been granted 10m to restore its central London building and open it to the public. Insckip & Jenkins is responsible for architecture and interior design.

Grants have also been approved in principle for five of the 14 projects, including 2.2m for Banbury Museum in Oxfordshire and 3.5m to create a museums quarter in Hull. Banbury’s architect is ECDA in London, and exhibition design is by Ivor Hall Associates.

Meanwhile, The Arts Council last week granted 4.9m shared between 39 projects in its latest round of Lottery funding.

The Cumbria Theatre Trust scooped the biggest award – 1.6m towards building the new Lakeside Theatre.

Another recipient of Lottery funds was the Tramman Trust, which received 1m to extend exhibition space in the Beatrice Royal Gallery in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

The Scottish Mining Museum in Edinburgh has been awarded 3.7m. Concepts for the architecture and design work are by Leisure Solutions in York.

Surrey County Council has picked up 119 000 towards building a new Surrey History Centre. WS Atkins is the project architect.