Path Design and Whybrow in Ashmolean work

A £61m refurbishment of the Ashmolean museum in Oxford will see the integration of two restaurant spaces, with interiors conceived by Path Design, and a wayfinding strategy for the entire museum designed by Whybrow Signing Consultants.

Path Design was appointed by the museum in January following a competitive pitch. Whybrow Signing Consultants also won a competitive pitch for its brief in August 2008.

The original Charles Cockerell building, built in 1845, will be refurbished and a new building (pictured) created by Rick Mather Architects. Display space will double when the museum reopens in November.

Housed within the new building, Path Design’s Ashmolean dining room interior will be designed to operate within a standalone rooftop restaurant, opening in the evening, after museum opening hours.

The Basement Cafe, on the existing site, is being designed in close consultation with the museum’s catering supplier.

‘We need to make sure the offer, and the look and feel, are suitable to its requirements,’ says Path Design director John Muskett.

Whybrow Signing Consultants has developed a signage solution for the whole museum, that will see visitors orientate themselves from directories located in vertical circulation points.

Ian Whybrow, director of the group, says, ‘Galleries are sequentially numbered, with threshold signs located at the juncture between each gallery.’

Metaphor is working on permanent exhibition design across four of the five floors in the new building.

Rick Mather Architects will design the interior of other spaces, including offices, meeting rooms, education rooms and storage areas.