In a sneak peek at how Hereford’s new museum and gallery is evolving, the county’s museums head of Damian Etheraads has explained what the £19-million project will bring to the city and county.

Planning permission and listed building consent to transform the iconic Victorian building in the city’s Broad Street have now been secured, along with a funding package from the government, the national lottery and the council’s own coffers.

“Money spent on the cultural economy more than pays for itself,” Mr Etheraads said. “After five years we aim to have 80,000 visitors a year, many spending the night in Hereford and explore the rest of the city.”

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He explained the lack of tangible redevelopment work so far is down to the need to first assess what the building already harbours.

“We will be re-exposing features like Victorian cornices,” he said. “Conservation of the building is a big part of this.”

How the museum's 'Life Shaped by Nature' gallery could lookHow the museum's 'Life Shaped by Nature' gallery could look (Image: Metaphor Design)

These and less welcome surprises, such as the presence of asbestos, have meant the target opening date of October 2026 is “indicative”, he said.

Not everything is being kept and there will be a rationalisation of the building’s “many” staircases. But the elegant main staircase will be restored as its centrepiece (see separate piece on features of the new building).

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Uniquely, it is being fitted out to EnerPHit standards, an industry benchmark of sustainable energy use in retrofitted buildings – not only saving on future upkeep, but also better protecting the collection inside. Air-source heat pumps and solar panels are being used rather than fossil fuels.

But the project is not simply a refit. It also entails “adding a new building on top”, Mr Etheraads explained, in the form of a new “beacon”, viewing gallery and garden above what is currently a section of roof.

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The approach is provide a “social” front of the building up to the rooftop, which “will earn the income to keep it running”, separate from the exhibition space.

Inclusivity is also clear in the museum’s partnership with 35 local and national partner groups which are serving as “a curatorial panel” on the new museum’s content – partly to ensure it is a museum for Herefordshire, not just the city, Mr Etheraads said.

Meanwhile public tours of the evolving building are planned from October, he added.