_(geograph_5246509).jpg) The Design Museum in Kensington | |
  Location within Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea | |
| Established | 1989; 37 years ago (1989) |
|---|---|
| Location | 224–238Kensington High Street,London,W8 6AG England |
| Coordinates | 51°30′00″N0°12′01″W / 51.4998973°N 0.200244°W /51.4998973; -0.200244 |
| Director | Tim Marlow |
| Public transit access |
|
| Website | designmuseum.org |
TheDesign Museum inKensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won theEuropean Museum of the Year Award.[1] The museum operates as aregistered charity,[2] and all funds generated by ticket sales aid the museum in curating new exhibitions.
The museum was founded in 1989 bySir Terence Conran, withStephen Bayley as inauguralCEO, after the two men had collaboratively created the highly successful exhibition space known as The Boilerhouse at theVictoria and Albert Museum (V&A).[3]
The museum was originally housed in a former 1940s banana warehouse on the south bank of theRiver Thames in theShad Thames area of London.[4] The conversion of this warehouse altered it beyond recognition, to resemble a building in the InternationalModernist style of the 1930s.[5] This was funded by many companies, designers and benefactors. The museum was principally designed by the Conran group, with exhibitions over two floors, and a "Design Museum Tank" exhibition space out by the waterfront.[6] A large scale sculpture titledThe Head of Invention bySir Eduardo Paolozzi was installed in the area between the museum and the Thames.[7]
.jpg)
In June 2011, Sir Terence Conran donated £17.5 million to enable the museum to move in 2016 from the warehouse to a larger site which formerly housed theCommonwealth Institute in west London.[8] This landmark from the 1960s, a Grade II* listed building, designed byRobert Matthew/Sir Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners architects that had stood vacant for over a decade, was developed by a design team led byJohn Pawson.[9] Fit-out of the Design Museum's new home was carried out byWillmott Dixon Interiors.[10]
The Design Museum opened in its Kensington location on 24 November 2016.[11] The move gave the museum three times more space than in its previous location at Shad Thames, with the newSwarovski Foundation Centre for Learning, 202-seat Bakala Auditorium and a dedicated gallery to display its permanent collection, accessible free of charge.[12] The new building was the subject of a profile on theSky Arts programmeThe Art of Architecture in 2019.[13]
The move brought the museum into Kensington's cultural quarter, joining theRoyal College of Art,V&A,Science Museum,Natural History Museum andSerpentine Gallery.
Deyan Sudjic succeededAlice Rawsthorn as director of the Design Museum in 2006.[14] In 2016, Alice Black was appointed co-director.[15] In 2019,Tim Marlow was appointed as director and chief executive.[16]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Design Museum" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The top-floor space under the museum roof houses a permanent display, Designer Maker User, with key objects from the museum's collection.[17] A restaurant, members' lounge, residency studio and an events and gallery space are also located on the top floor.
On the first floor, a design and architecture reference library is a resource for students, educators, researchers and designers. It also includes archive material relating to the history of the museum. The Swarovski Foundation Centre for Learning is a suite of learning facilities including a design studio, creative workshop, two seminar rooms and a common room. The Design Museum offices and main reception, a meeting room and a film studio are also located on the first floor.
On the ground floor, the largest gallery in the Design Museum showcases a programme of temporary exhibitions. Accessible from bothKensington High Street andHolland Park, the atrium acts as an events space. A main staircase from the atrium gives access to all floors and offers views to the first and second floors and thehyperbolic paraboloid roof.
A double-height space spanning the two lower levels, Gallery Two hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions dedicated to architecture, fashion, furniture, product and graphic design. TheBakala Auditorium seats 202 people and provide a purpose-designed space for a programme of talks, seminars, debates and public and private events throughout the year. The basement accommodates a collections store, exhibition preparation spaces and a locker area for visitors.
The Design Museum has an award scheme whichBrit Insurance sponsored from 2003 until 2011.
Designs produced over the previous 12 months worldwide are eligible. A number of design experts are invited to nominate up to five projects each, falling into the seven categories of architecture, transport, graphics, interactive, product, furniture and fashion. Since 2015, there have been six categories: architecture, fashion, graphics, digital, product and transport.Beazley became exhibition sponsor in 2016.[22]
| Districts |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Attractions | ||
| Theatres | ||
| Royal Parks | ||
| Street markets | ||
| Constituencies | ||
| Squares and streets |
| |
| Bridges | ||
| Tube and railway stations | ||
| Pubs |
| |
| Other topics |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
