UK-based architect WilkinsonEyre has won a competition to design a new railway museum in Leicester.

The company was chosen among six shortlisted candidates to design the new £18m museum. It will be built as a part of the Heritage Lottery Fund-supported project partnered by Great Central Railway, Leicester City Council, and the York-based National Railway Museum.

The museum will showcase significant locomotives from the national collection alongside the heritage railways terminus at Leicester North station.

"This will be a museum for the whole of the city and the county and it was vital we consulted as widely as possible before choosing the winning design."

Great Central Railway's chief executive Andy Munro said: "This will be a museum for the whole of the city and the county and it was vital we consulted as widely as possible before choosing the winning design.

“There were several key factors to consider: would the new building be the right environment for the intended displays, was it iconic enough considering where it will sit on the city skyline, and of course does it fit with the projects budget?

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“The museum team were set a hard task by such a high-standard of shortlisted schemes, but we are confident we have chosen the right one.”

The museum design will feature three two-storey exhibition halls with glass walls placed alongside Leicester North station.

The design will accommodate the Great Central’s existing railway station building and platform.


Image: Artist’s impression of WilkinsonEyre-designed railway museum. Photo: courtesy of WilkinsonEyre.