We are delighted to announce a fantastic new permanent home for the Migration Museumin the City of London. The Migration Museum explores how the movement of people to and from Britain across the ages has made us who we are – as individuals and as a nation. This new addition to City of London’s cultural life is an important part of the new development at 65 Crutched Friars (owned by real estate company Dominus). It will help boost the city’s cultural offer and support it as a seven-day-a-week visitor destination.

The planning application was approved by the City of London Corporation’s Planning Applications Sub-Committee.

“We are creating Britain's missing museum, exploring how the movement of people to and from the City, London and the UK has shaped who we all are today – as individuals, as communities and as nations. And there is no more fitting location for the Migration Museum than in the heart of the City of London, Britain's gateway to the world for thousands of years” Sophie Henderson, CEO of the Migration Museum

Futurecity has been involved from the outset helping to broker an ambitious partnership with the Migration Museum as part of the Cultural Plan for 65 Crutched Friars. The Futurecity team led by Sherry Dobbin working with Maheer Khan, Hamdee Yusuf, Beverly Chan, George Kekatos and Andy Robinson helped Dominus and project architects 3XN, to create a cultural offer that will bring great social value into the area and support the new Destination City vision for the City of London.

The Migration Museum will be spread over three floors, including exhibition and event space, a cafe and shop. The developer will provide the museum space rent-free for 60 years, while also covering its operating costs for three years, and has donated £500,000 to support a fund-raising campaign. The Museum will include an educational outreach programme to engage with diverse communities across London and the UK. The new development at 65 Crutched Friars, will include a mixture of studio apartments and shared accommodation for students. The 21-storey building will comprise 769 rooms, 35% of which will be classed as affordable housing. It will also see the creation of a new public courtyard fronting onto Northumberland Alley and a new ‘pocket park’ in Rangoon Street.

“The Migration Museum will be an inspiring venue for diverse audiences from across the City, London and beyond to come together to explore, discuss and reflect on key questions around migration, identity and belonging; a go-to destination for schools, a resonant setting for training and skills-building and a relevant, welcoming space for a host of activities for the many communities we serve." Sophie Henderson, CEO of the Migration Museum

In the past 18 months, Futurecity has worked on 10 cultural strategies for clients within the City of London, which will lead to ambitious public art programmes, cultural partnerships, education and skills, new spaces for cultural organisations and studios and other facilities for artists and creatives. The work will help deliver the Destination City objectives to open the City of London to tourists, visitors, investors, surrounding boroughs and residents.

For more information on our work in the City of London contact our Cultural Partnerships Manager, George Kekatos, george@futurecity.co.uk.

All images courtesy of 3XN, Dominus and Migration Museum.