A renovation and expansion project has begun at the Natural History Museum of Lille !
From November 2020 to February 2021, the museum has been closed for a first phase of renovation works
The natural history museum of Lille has been created in 1822 and installed in its current location in 1902.
Today, about 450,000 objects are preserved in the museum, organised in four collections: geology, zoology, ethnography, and sciences and techniques.
Due to a lack of space, the last two collections are not exhibited and only 5% of the preserved objects are presented on the permanent museum route.
In 2019, the museum received about 122,000 visitors, that is to say the double of the figure registered five years earlier.
In this context, the City of Lille decided to develop a new project for this building, which is dear to the inhabitants’ hearts.
As the first phase of the renovation works will allow the Museum to have a new entrance and to offer the visitors new services, it is by 2025 that we will be discovering a huge Museum of Mankind, Nature and Civilisations.
A two-phase renovation site :
During its city council that took place on October 4, 2019, the City of Lille voted unanimously to transform the Museum of Natural History into a huge Museum of Mankind, Nature and Civilisations.
The City’s ambition is to help people understand the issues of our planet and the questioning concerning our societies.
The renovation site began in June 2020 and is composed of two phases
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1st phase :
The first concerns the amelioration of the reception area and the visit comfort. It took place from June 2020 to November 2021.
Since May 2020, a renovation and expansion project has been underway at the Natural history museum of Lille, reinvesting a new wing of the building, the Gosselet wing.
Therefore, the museum has closed its doors to the public for 4 months (November 2020 > February 2021).
Now that the renovation is over, the ground floor of the Gosselet wing offers a 400 m² area dedicated to the visitors’ reception: more comfortable ticketing and reception areas, areas dedicated to groups, as well as a shop and café surrounded by a courtyard.
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2nd phase :
The second phase consists of a deep renovation of the building, which will allow the layout of the new museum from now until 2024–2025.
The layout will offer a redesigned museum route based on collections presented in a cross-disciplinary way according to major societal themes. The scenography will offer a visiting experience both immersive and interactive. It will include adjustable spaces, especially for the youngest (0–6 years old). Eventually, the space open to the visitors will be increased by more than 70%.