London Museum: inside the £400m cultural development at West Smithfield
The London Museum is set to open at West Smithfield in 2026. It is one of Europe’s largest cultural developments and is backed by more than £400m in funding from Canada Corporation and the Mayor of London, of which the City Corporation is contributing £222m. I recently toured the museum and met with the London Museum director, Sharon Ament, about what the Museum means for the UK and for London, its cultural offering, and its economy.
The London Museum is moving from London Wall West to inhabit the Poultry Market and General Market at West Smithfield. What are the benefits of the new site?
We have existed at the London Wall site since 1976, but the big problem was that nobody ever knew where the museum was, and they couldn’t find it.
Here at Smithfield, we are on a transport hub, benefiting from all the fabulous investment in the Elizabeth Line and the roads that come in and out.
We are going to be so evident to both Londoners and international visitors. Just think, we’ll only be two train stops away from Paris, which is extraordinary.
How does the London Museum build on the legacy of the markets?
Having the opportunity to inhabit two market buildings in West Smithfield is an extraordinary opportunity for London.
The Smithfield area has been a centre for exchange for almost a millennium and we’ll continue that tradition by providing a meeting space for people to get together and share knowledge and ideas.
We are honouring the area’s history by telling the story of the markets and the people who came before us. This includes preserving some of the former shop fronts around the market’s perimeter to create new retail and leisure opportunities for London businesses and organisations.
How will the museum boost the UK’s cultural offering?
The London Museum is the only place that tells the story of this great global capital, voted the World’s Best City for the 11th year running.
Housed in two architectural landmarks, we are reshaping what it means to be a museum. We have a great new model that will become a real beacon for tourists, for people living in London and the rest of the UK. We expect to welcome at least 2m people each year, with extended opening hours on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight.
How will the museum reflect the many people, stories and influences that make up our city’s history?
The story of London is the story of a diverse global capital and all the magic, joy and opportunity that comes with that.
From thousands of years before London existed to the present day, people have been drawn to this area. Remember, London was founded at the edge of the vast Roman Empire and people came to live in Londinium from places across Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Centuries later, it would become the centre of a global colonial empire.
Through our galleries, we’ll explore 10,000 years of London’s history in the context of Britain and the world, whilst offering people the chance to connect with individual Londoners of the past.
From Roman London to the Great Fire, the Suffragettes to the Sons of Africa, the risqué stars of Edwardian Music Hall to Banky’s street art and the icon of London’s high street, Morley’s Chicken Shop.
We will be telling London’s story in all its grit and glitter, with help from some 100,000 Londoners along the way.
And just how big is this project?
The London Museum is a hugely ambitious project, planned and developed over 10 years.
In terms of scale, we are going to have about 30,000 square metres, so we’ll be up there as a really big museum. But that’s just one metric.
It’s costing over £400m. That economic heft is reaching far and wide. This year, we hit 500 people working on site in just one day.
We’re also pulling in specialists, craftspeople and trades of all stripes from across the UK. We’ve got some of the most creative exhibition designers and architects working with us, alongside some of this country’s best engineers. Another glorious example is a small family foundry in the Brecon Beacons which is refurbishing all our fireplaces.
This is a project with profound economic reach. When it launches next year, it will be one of the most significant cultural projects of the decade.
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