Design Museum

The Design Museum stands in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, exhibiting product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It moved in 2016 to the former Commonwealth Institute building, a 1960s Grade II* listed structure designed by Robert Matthew/Sir Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners. The conversion was led by John Pawson, with interior work by Willmott Dixon Interiors. The museum won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2018 and operates as a registered charity. Funds from ticket sales support new exhibitions. It was founded in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran and Stephen Bayley after their successful Boilerhouse project at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Deyan Sudjic became director in 2006, followed by Alice Black as co-director in 2016 and Tim Marlow as director and chief executive in 2019. Visitors find a permanent display called Designer Maker User on the top floor, along with a restaurant and events space. The first floor houses a design and architecture reference library, the Swarovski Foundation Centre for Learning, seminar rooms and offices. The ground floor features the largest gallery for temporary exhibitions, an atrium used for events and a main staircase offering views to other floors and the hyperbolic paraboloid roof. Gallery Two on lower levels hosts architecture, fashion, furniture, product and graphic design exhibitions, while the Bakala Auditorium provides space for talks and debates.