Museum Make-Overs!

Two of South Kensington’s iconic institutions have unveiled ambitious new permanent galleries this year, both looking to the future and exploring hopeful science-led solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face today.

At the Natural History Museum Fixing Our Broken Planet opened on Thursday 3rd April – its first new gallery in almost a decade and the first of several planned as part of NHM150, a campaign ahead of the Museum’s 150th anniversary.

This new permanent gallery focuses on our relationship with the natural world, the challenges we face, and how science can help us move towards a more sustainable and equitable future. With over 200 objects on display and research from more than 30 Museum scientists, the gallery is organised around four key themes - energy, health, materials and food – highlighting the global systems at risk and the possibilities for repair.

Alex Burch, Director of Public Programmes at the Natural History Museum, said:

“We’re incredibly proud that our collections and research are providing solutions to the planetary emergency. This gallery is designed to spark hope and action. We want visitors to leave inspired, understanding that solutions exist and that each of us has a role to play in restoring our planet.”

Alongside striking objects from the Museum’s collections – such as deep-sea fauna threatened by mining, or a bird’s nest entwined with plastic – visitors will encounter films, stats and discussion spaces designed to inspire action. The gallery is also home to the interactive online tool Find Your Climate Action, which helps people identify personal, practical steps they can take for the planet.

Just across the road at the Science Museum, the Exploring Space gallery will undergo a four-month phased closure after the Easter holidays. During summer 2025, iconic objects from Exploring Space such as British astronaut Helen Sharman’s Sokol spacesuit worn during her 1991 space flight, and the Soyuz capsule which returned astronaut Tim Peake to Earth following the first spacewalk by a UK astronaut, will be carefully moved through the museum to be redisplayed in a new gallery. 

A new Space gallery will open in autumn 2025 in the museum’s West Hall and bring together remarkable space objects that celebrate the first space age and the future of space exploration. Space will invite visitors to discover inspiring stories of exploration while offering a new perspective on significant space objects.

And there is more! Set to open in 2027, Tomorrow: The Bennett Gallery at the Science Museum will offer a fascinating look at the research shaping our future. This forward-thinking gallery will explore groundbreaking scientific advancements that could change the way we understand ourselves, our planet, and the universe.

The gallery will be divided into three sections: human, planet, and universe, each offering insights into the most pressing scientific questions of our time. From the Human Cell Atlas, which maps every cell in the human body, to innovations in CRISPR gene editing technology, the Tomorrow gallery will provide a window into the future of medicine and biotechnology.

The planet section will focus on environmental solutions, tackling issues like plastic pollution and sustainable housing. Meanwhile, the universe section will take visitors on a cosmic journey, exploring the origins of the universe and the groundbreaking work being done to explore space. Visitors will encounter extraordinary space objects, including the Apollo 10 spacecraft and the latest images from the James Webb Space Telescope.