Great North Museum

Newcastle upon Tyne, 2009

The Great North Museum, a new museum in Newcastle’s Cultural Quarter, combines the natural history collections at the Hancock Museum with the Greek and Etruscan objects housed in the Shefton Museum, the collections of the Museum of Antiquities and fine and decorative arts from the Hatton Gallery. The project is a partnership between the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, the Natural History Society of Northumbria, the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle City Council and Tyne and Wear Museums, and combines state-of-the-art interpretation techniques with exciting interactive displays.

Casson Mann have designed eleven galleries for the new museum, with ten story spaces varying in size and character, divided into two major collection strands – culture and nature.

Client: NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY, TYNE & WEAR MUSEUMS
Duration: 78 months
Opened: 23 May 2009
Project type: Permanent Museum galleries
Size: 2850 square metres
Value (Galleries): £6.1 million

DESIGN TEAM
Lead Exhibition Design: Casson Mann Designers
Architect: Farrells
Project Manager: Turner & Townsend
Cost Management: Flemming Associates
M&E Engineers: White Young Green
Structural Engineers: WSP
Lighting Design: DHA Design
Graphic Design & Wayfinding: Nick Bell Design
Main Exhibition Contractor: Beck

H I G H L I G H T S

The Living Planet display wall

The finest collection of objects from the Hadrian’s Wall world heritage site

Dispay and interpretation of the internationally important fossil collections including a full size T-rex skeleton.

Natural beauty and diversity of the region in Natural Northumbria

The Egyptian mummies and statue of a pharoah

The pinnacle of artistic achievement from Classical Greece

Mouse house exploration for the Under Fives

Planetarium