Millennium Galleries: Arundel Gate, Sheffield
Publication: Concrete 
Date: Tuesday, October 1 2002
The £11.5 million Millennium Galleries, in the centre of Sheffield, were designed to comply with the highest international conservation standards for museums and galleries. They will be run in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum. Since opening in April 2001, more than 250,000 visitors have been recorded. The key elements are covered arcades, one of which, 'the avenue', runs the length of the gallery. This is surrounded by a variety of interesting spaces, linking the structure with the Winter Garden, now under construction, and Peace Garden, to be built in the future. The building is not conceived as an object in an open city square, but as a series of streets and spaces 'mined' out of dense urban fabric. The galleries are arranged along new routes that lead to other destinations. They avoid the temple or fortress-like form of traditional museums and galleries.

© Concrete 2002