Transformed from local gem to world-class attraction, the William Morris Gallery has been awarded the prestigious title of Museum of the Year for its major renovation and creative reinterpretation of the life and work of Morris – the revolutionary Victorian designer and social activist – for a diverse range of 21st century audiences.
 
Pringle Richards Sharratt were architects for the gallery redevelopment together with its sister company GuM Studio, who carried out the exhibition design. The team included interpreter Benedetta Tiana of BT Museum Consultancy and graphic designers Thomas Manss & Co.
 
The judges said: “This truly is Museum of the Year. Its extraordinary collections, beautifully presented, draw the visitor engagingly through Morris’s life and work and through the building itself. Setting the highest standards of curatorship, and reaching out impressively to its local community.”
 
It won for a redevelopment that brought a rather tired museum thrillingly back to life. At one stage the gallery was facing cuts and, it was feared, closure at the hands of the local authority, but after a community campaign Waltham Forest council became its saviours, agreeing to invest £1.5m, matching the £1.5m offered by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The new gallery reopened in August last year and is one of the borough's jewels. Stephen Deuchar, director of The Art Fund and chair of the judges said the local campaign and the council response were to be applauded. The local authority discovered "what they might have thought was a sleepy old museum that could be humanely put down, could in fact be revitalised and that is what has happened. In these difficult times for an area of London facing many other pressures, to put in £1.5m was a great and responsive act."
 
The renovated gallery reinterprets Morris for a 21st century audience, telling the story of his life and considerable achievements in the grand Walthamstow house he grew up in. It has space for visiting shows and will be the first venue when Jeremy Deller's current exhibition at the Venice Biennale goes on tour next year. The refurbished gallery was setting the highest standards of curatorship, said Deuchar. "The collections are not only important but they are very beautifully presented, in terms of the physical fabric of the showcases and also the interpretation – the labels are erudite and accessible. There is a great curatorial coherence to the collections and that comes across in every square foot of the museum. The architectural transformation of a fine but tricky Georgian building had been beautifully done”.
 
This year's judging panel included journalist Sarah Crompton, historian Bettany Hughes, MP Tristram Hunt and artist Bob and Roberta Smith. The award was announced at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 4 June 2013, broadcast on Radio 4's Front Row programme.

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