Preston designers help transform historic museum

Preston-based Artistry House Interiors has loaned its expertise to the £15m transformation of the Manchester Museum.

The museum, 130 years old, is part of the University of Manchester. It is one of the largest of its type in the UK and houses around 4.5 million objects from natural sciences and human cultures.

The recent refurbishment revitalised the building for future generations while re-assessing its civic role and function in Manchester’s cultural infrastructure. 

Artistry House Interiors won the brief to deliver interior design in keeping with these ambitions across a selection of crucial non-gallery spaces within the museum, including the entrance area and reception, main hall and pop up café, shop, main café, high impact object displays and prayer room.

Artistry House Interior designer Rose Peploe (pictured left) said: “We were honoured and hugely excited to deliver against such a bold, rich, transformational brief for so historic an institution. Its varied spaces and facilities have a multitude of purposes, atmospheres and intents, all of which are vital to the museum as a whole.

“Our interior scheme began with research into the museum’s past whilst focusing on the aspiration of creating a museum where ‘everybody is welcome’, representing and encouraging all cultures and generations to spend quality time within the museum.

“We curated a selection of rich colours and authentic materials inspired from spaces around the world, whilst aiming to reimagine how the museum may once have looked, as an ode to the past, whilst representing the museum and its values as they stand today."

Dean Whiteside, head of commercial and operations at Manchester Museum, said: “Although our collections are important, the 'hello future' transformation was about so much more – we wanted to create a welcoming environment where everyone belongs, and design is integral to that.

“We required a design partner that understood and would help us reflect our mission. It’s so important to us that we work with partners who align with our values. We’re delighted with the work Artistry House has done – they’ve helped us bring our vision to life."

A sister company of award-winning creative agency Wash Studio, Artistry House Interiors is based at The Artistry House, which provides a base for a range of collaborating creative companies from its three-storey artistic hub on Preston’s historic Winckley Square.