Sunderland Museum & Art Gallery, Sunderland

Overview

The museum is located in a listed building within the grounds of a Victorian urban park. Approximately 1500 square metres of gallery space are arranged over two floors of a building that had previously been occupied by the city library on the ground floor and the museum on the first floor. It involved Redman Design working with eight different curatorial teams, one for each of the galleries covering a wide range of subjects and specialisms. The response from the public exceeded all expectations. There are now more older visitors and more with young children and many people are returning regularly because there is so much to discover.

The Sunderland Museum & Art Gallery received an SIBH Interpret Britain Award in 2003.

Exhibition Design

This is a museum about local people and by local people. From the very start the community was consulted about what they would like to see in the museum and many of their ideas were incorporated into the design. Sunderland has always succeeded in attracting a wide audience: our brief was to present more of the museum’s collections, within displays which would be socially inclusive. Our approach was to create a multilayered interpretation, with each gallery providing a very different experience for the visitor.

Masterplan

Redman Design was appointed to this project in 1997 and immediately began work on developing a Masterplan for incorporating the galleries into a site that was being remodelled by two architectural teams; a local authority architect appointed to work on the existing building and a consultant architect appointed to design a new wintergarden that would link with the Natural History gallery on the first floor. We then went on to develop the design and interpretation and manage the implementation of the fit-out contract. Through careful design and contract management we were able to make the most of a limited budget.