The team selected for the estimated 300,000 contract will design and deliver a new gallery space exploring 250 years of scientific and technological progress. The project, backed by Science Museum Group and planned to complete in 2028, will transform the existing ground floor Making the Modern World exhibit which opened 25 years ago.The procurement comes a year after Wright and Wright was chosen to create a new Horizons Gallery exploring the impact of contemporary science on society. The exhibition will transform a large ground floor gallery space which currently houses the South Kensington museums long-running Exploring Space exhibition.According to the brief: Making the Modern World (MMW) opened as the Science Museums flagship permanent gallery in 2000 and is one of our most prominent and highly visited galleries. It is an object-focused, synoptic gallery, charting 250 years of science, technology and medicine from 1750-2000 and containing more than 2,000 objects.AdvertisementAges of Invention is a reimagining of MMW, including entirely new stories and themes, alongside existing highlights. We will rationalise displays and infrastructure to reveal the buildings architecture and create a dramatic and engaging, relevant and contemporary object rich gallery.The new gallery explores 250 years of significant scientific, technological and social change, through extraordinary objects, stories and people whose impact continues to shape our world today.Founded in 1857, the Science Museum relocated to its current location in the early twentieth century and is now one of Londons most popular visitor attractions. Originally designed by Richard Allison, the museum has been extended several times in the 1960s, 1980s and finally with the addition of the Wellcome Wing by MJP Architects in 2000.The project is the latest instalment in the museums 60 million regeneration masterplan, which includedZaha Hadid Architects mathematics gallery, which opened in 2017. The first scheme in the masterplan, a library and research centre by Coffey Architects, completed in March 2016, while an interactive gallery by Muf opened in 2017.Other competition-winning schemes under development include a suite of medical galleries by WilkinsonEyre which opened in November, an events space by Duggan Morris(completed by Mary Duggan Architects), an auditorium by Dow Jones Architects and an entrance by HAT Projects.AdvertisementUnknown Works unveiled a new permanent gallery dubbed Energy Revolution at Londons Science Museum last year.Bids to deliver the latest contract will be evaluated 70 per cent on quality and 30 per cent on cost. Applicants must hold employers Liability Insurance of 5 million, Public Liability Insurance of 10 million and Professional Indemnity Insurance of 5 million.Shortlisted teams will each receive a 1,500 honorarium to participate in the second phase of the competition during which initial design thoughts in response to the brief will be required.Competition detailsProject title Ages of Invention Gallery Lead Designer, Architect, Exhibition DesignerClient Science Museum GroupContract value 3.7 million-to-4.2 millionFirst round deadline 18 February 2025Restrictions TbcMore information https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b3ccb427-588f-44d1-ad01-4b2142c613b6