BIG Unveils Timber-Structured Design for the New Hungarian Natural History Museum in DebrecenSave this picture!New Hungarian Natural History Museum in Debrecen . Image BIGBIG, Bjarke Ingels Group, has been selected to design the new Hungarian Natural History Museum in Debrecen. Located on a former sports ground at the northern edge of the city's Great Forest, Nagyerd, the 23,000 m museum is being developed in collaboration with Vikr s Lukcs pts Stdi, Museum Studio, and TYPSA. The new institution will replace the existing museum in Budapest, supporting the government's vision to establish Debrecen as a regional hub for education and culture by 2030. Commissioned by the Museum and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, the new building will house permanent and temporary exhibition halls, educational and research facilities, public amenities, and back-of-house spaces.Save this picture!The proposed design features three overlapping ribbons that rise from the forest floor, shaping a public and scientific destination. With a mass timber structure and charred timber faade, BIG's museum is partially sunken into the ground, blending into its park surroundings, while its sloping roofscape invites public access and offers expansive city views. The design integrates open plazas, winding forest paths, and framed views through and over the building. Accessible from all sides, the arrival experience is marked by a southern plaza, serving as a meeting point for community life and museum activities.Save this picture! Our design is conceived as an intersection of paths and lineages. Intersecting ribbons of landscape overlap to produce a series of niches and habitats, halls and galleries, blending the inside and the outside, the intimate and the mastodontic in seamless continuity. The result is a manmade hill in a forest clearing; geometrically clear yet softly organic - an appropriate home for the wonders of the natural world. - Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG Related Article BIG Unveils Design for Kosovos First Opera House with Undulating Photovoltaic Roof The building will feature five exhibition wings dedicated to permanent galleries and one for temporary exhibitions and public programs, arranged in a radial layout. A reception hall serves as the central navigation point, while a library and restaurant above offer views into the forest canopy. Below, a learning hub will host workshops, play spaces, and research labs. The roof is to be planted with native species, explicitly designed to provide habitats for local flora and fauna, and visually extending the park over the museum. Vegetation will also be integrated into the building's interior, accompanying rest and gathering areas for visitors throughout the year.Save this picture!Save this picture! We envisioned the Hungarian Natural History Museum as an integrated part of its environment, both shaped by and shaping the landscape around it. Constructed from mass timber, the building features a faade of locally sourced charred timber panels that emerge from the ground, blurring the lines between architecture and wilderness. The museum draws on the thermal mass of the ground and integrates on-site energy systems, including geothermal loops and photovoltaic panels, to ensure a stable indoor climate year-round. Rather than simply preserving the site, the building restores and enhances it - regenerating biodiversity while quietly adapting to its surroundings. - Hanna Johansson, Partner, BIG Save this picture!Save this picture!Other recent BIG projects include the recently completed Jinji Lake Pavilion in China, a 1,200 m public and hospitality space; the design for Kosovo's first Opera House, featuring an undulating photovoltaic roof; and an 8,500 m palliative care center envisioned as a village surrounded by nature in Denmark. Bjarke Ingels will also participate in the Salone del Mobile talks on April 10, discussing how materiality, technology, and human interaction can redefine urban planning.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Antonia Pieiro. "BIG Unveils Timber-Structured Design for the New Hungarian Natural History Museum in Debrecen" 03 Apr 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1028727/big-unveils-timber-structured-design-for-the-new-hungarian-natural-history-museum-in-debrecen&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream