City of London Corporation Wins Award for New Migration Museum

The City of London Corporation has received a prestigious planning award for its involvement in developing a new home for the Migration Museum in the Square Mile. Planning permission was granted for a mixed-use scheme at 65 Crutched Friars, which will include a permanent home for the museum, interactive temporary and permanent exhibition galleries, a flexible learning suite, an event space, outdoor areas, a restaurant, and a shop.

The project won the “Planning Permission of the Year” award at the Planning Awards 2024, held at Savoy Place. The judges commended the scheme for its focus and its potential to attract a diverse range of communities to the City of London. The museum will form part of a 769-bedroom (35 per cent affordable) student accommodation-led development, remaining at its current Lewisham venue until the new site opens in 2027.

The Migration Museum celebrates how migration has shaped the UK over the centuries, with current exhibitions including “Migration and the Making of the NHS” and segments of the Berlin Wall.

Developer Dominus Donates £500,000 Towards Museum Staff Costs

Developer Dominus Real Estate, founded by Ugandan refugee Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, is currently on site delivering the project, which will feature over 3,000 square metres of space. Dominus has guaranteed to underwrite the museum’s first three years of operating costs and has proposed a donation of £500,000 to fund a team of museum staff to lead the fundraising drive.

Migration Museum CEO, Sophie Henderson, stated: “We cannot think of a more exciting or resonant location for Britain’s missing museum than the City of London, site of some of the oldest and most intriguing migration stories from the Romans to medieval times and the present day. The Migration Museum will be a high-profile, stylish and welcoming new cultural institution that puts our long, rich and complex story of the movement of people both to and from Britain over the ages right at centre stage, where it belongs. It has been a privilege and pleasure to work with the City planning team and developers Dominus to bring this important project to fruition.”