Small Back Room creates shops for National Museum of Scotland

Small Back Room is working on two new retail spaces for the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh as part of a wider redevelopment led by Gareth Hoskins Architects.

/i/x/v/DW_entrance_hall.jpg

The consultancy was appointed to the work in February by museum operator National Museums Scotland following a tender process.

Small Back Room has created two new shops at the museum – the larger one in the new street-level entrance hall (pictured) and the second one on the first floor, adjacent to a new 800m2 temporary exhibition space.

The museum says the entrance hall shop ‘complements the curved walls and ceilings [in the entrance hall] and features high-quality finishes in materials robust enough to withstand the large number of visitors that will pass through the area’.

The first-floor shop, which will feature stock relating the exhibitions on show in its neighbouring space, has a ‘light, airy’ feel with an extensive use of glass.

The shops and the wider redevelopment are set to open to the public on 29 July.

John Rushton, chairman of Small Back Room, says, ‘To work on two such different shops in one building is a rare challenge. I am looking forward to seeing these projects come to fruition as the wonderful redevelopment programme proceeds.’

Gordon Rintoul, director of National Museums Scotland, says, ‘A high-quality retail offer is of great importance to the museum and will help us generate income. We want the shop in the entrance hall to become almost a destination in itself and, together with high-quality stock, good design is clearly a key element of that.’

Start the discussionStart the discussion
  • Post a comment

Latest articles