Ulster Museum bags Art Fund Prize

The prize is awarded annually to a museum or gallery for a project completed in the last year that demonstrated the most originality, imagination and excellence.

Belfast-based Hamilton Architects and exhibition design consultancy Haley Sharpe Design led the Ulster Museum project, which included new interactive learning zones, a new applied art gallery and a three storey-high Window on Our World display.

The museum beat three other short-listed institutions, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Blists Hill Victorian Town – a museum operated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust – and the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry.

Chairwoman of the judges Kirsty Young says, ‘We were impressed by the interactive learning spaces on each level that are filled with objects which visitors are encouraged to touch and explore, and by how the museum’s commitment to reaching all parts of its community is reflected in the number and diversity of its visitors.’