Unveiled yesterday (19 December), the visuals show each of the shortlisted teams responses to a design exercise run as part of the second stage of the competition selection process.The shortlist, announced in August, includes architect-led multidisciplinary bids headed by 6a architects, David Chipperfield Architects, OMA, Lina Ghotmeh, and a collaboration between Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert Architects.Models and images were submitted as part of a day-long charrette with the museum to test the capabilities of each architecture team shortlisted for the overhaul of the western area of the Grade I-listed museum. They are not final designs.AdvertisementKey aims include the introduction of contemporary architecture and innovative gallery displays, alongside sensitivity towards the need to respect and restore the highly significant and celebrated listed buildings on the site.The British Museum previously said that the second stage of the competition process would assess their approach to historic fabric, as well as different elements of spatial, environmental and exhibition design, with a focus on the collections of Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman artefacts.The 6a architects-led design response creates a biodiversity-led ecosystem of artefacts through greening and the reopening of courtyards dating back from 1838, while a top-lit finish to the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos would open up its brick vaults for the first time, the project team said.David Chipperfields response proposes two large public halls to turn the British Museum into a pluriversal space through a series of interconnected strategies. The practice adds that it would open up the museum to allow greater public participation.Floor plates would be opened up and walls peeled back under Jamie Fobert and Eric Parrys early design proposals to foster a new-found freedom of movement at the museum. The team added that revealing vaults and basement spaces would shed light on the buildings original architecture and artefacts.AdvertisementThe Lina Ghotmeh response includes spaces for experiences and bold interventions to the museum to create an archeology of the future and places for visitors to meet, while the OMA concept centres on delivering maximum impact and minimum intervention, with reuse of two internal courtyards and a focus on digital curation.The international competition has proved controversial, due to the significant financial backing the museum is receiving from fossil fuel giant BP. In January environmental campaigners called on architects not to take part in the contest because of the 50 million funding pledged to the Bloomsbury-based institution by BP.In recent years, BP and other oil and gas companies have been increasingly shunned by Britains cultural industries, with Tate, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Shakespeare Company among those institutions turning down such sponsorship.When the British Museum announced its partnership with BP in late 2023, it prompted the resignation of trustee Muriel Gray, former chair of the Glasgow School of Art, while Doug Parr, the UK policy director for Greenpeace, said the deal must surely be one of the biggest, most brazen greenwashing sponsorship deals the sector has ever seen. Source:Trustees of the British MuseumHowever, the high-profile competition, organised by Colander and aimed at finding a team to transform the central London museums Western Range, attracted more than 60 entrants from six continents.The scheme is part of a decade-long renovation masterplan unveiled late last year and billed as one of the most significant cultural redevelopment projects ever undertaken.The job will be the museums biggest building project since the 1820s when work began on Robert Smirkes original Greek Revival-style quadrangle. The 100,000m museum has around 3,500 different rooms and features more than eight million items in its permanent collection.The museums chair, former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne, said earlier this year: The redevelopment of the British Museum is one of the biggest projects of our time. We asked for the best of the architectural community to step forward to help and they have, from Britain and across the world.The competition comes three years after the museum named four architects on a 45 million construction consultancy services framework: Avanti Architects, Dannatt Johnson Architects, Nex Architecture and Wright & Wright Architects.Stanton Williams completed a new Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World at the British Museum in 2019. In 2014, RSHP completed the museums World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre extension.Each of the shortlisted teams are expected to receive an honorarium of 50,000 to participate in the design phase of the competition. A winner will be announced in February 2025.The teams designs are now on display in the museums Round Reading Room.The five shortlisted teams6a architects with Advanced Integrated Solutions, Arup, David Bonnett Associates, Gitta Gschwendtner, Kellenberger-White, London School of Architecture, Purcell, Studio ZNADavid Chipperfield Architectswith AEA Consulting, Adamson Associates, Alan Baxter Associates, Arup, Atelier Brckner, Atelier Ten, Lobe Lloyd, Julian Harrap Architects, Plan A, Reusefully, Neal ShasoreEric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert Architects with Buro Happold, David Bonnett Associates, Max Fordham, Mima, Price & Myers, Purcell, Space Syntax, Studio ZNALina Ghotmeh Architecture with Ali Cherri, Arup, Holmes Studio, Plan A, PurcellOMA with Arup, Benoy, Cookies, Ducks Scno, EQ2 Light, Purcell, Salvatore Settis, Studio ZNA Source:The Trustees of the British MuseumInside the British Museums Great Court