Museum openings and expansions coming up in 2025

V&A East Storehouse, London

Located in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the first of the Victoria & Albert Museum's (V&A) two new sites will be opening on 31 May. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the new working store and visitor attraction will feature everything from Elton John’s costumes to Samurai swords.

There is also a David Bowie Centre opening on the site on 13 September, containing Ziggy Stardust costumes alongside handwritten lyrics of some of his best-loved songs.

National Science and Media Museum, Bradford

Having closed in June 2023 for its £6m Sounds and Vision refurbishment, the museum celebrated its grand reopening on 8 January, coinciding with the launch of Bradford's year as UK City of Culture 2025. To mark the occasion, the museum is collaborating with Wallace and Gromit creators, Aardman, for film screenings and model-making workshops. It will also celebrate the event with the debut of a new temporary exhibition, David Hockney: Pieced Together, on 15 January. 

Power Hall, Manchester

Since 2019, this beloved industrial heritage museum has been closed to the public for restoration works. Due to reopen this summer, upgrades include urgent infrastructure works as well as a sector-leading decarbonisation project to reduce the building’s carbon emissions. The museum houses the UK’s largest collection of working steam trains, most of which were built in its home town of Manchester. 

The Harris, Preston

On track to reopen in Spring 2025, the 130-year-old Grade I listed building has been closed while it undergoes vital preservation work and upgrades its public access. The £16m project hopes to restore and reimagine The Harris for 21st-century audiences while protecting the building so it can be enjoyed by future generations.

Tullie Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle

Cumbria’s largest museum and art gallery will reopen on 15 February following a year of redevelopment works. While parts of the museum have been open since autumn, the full reopening this year will reveal a new welcome area, the Carlisle Gallery, and an upgraded cafe and shop. 

Goodwood Art Foundation, Chichester

Opening in spring 2025, the estate promises to showcase work by the very best international artists and curators, including a headline exhibition by an illustrious artist every season. Its debut exhibition will feature sculptor Rachel Whiteread, the first woman to ever win the Turner Prize. 

Newhaven Fort, East Sussex

The 19th-century heritage site is reopening on 15 February following the completion of its £7.5m restoration project. Covering everything from the stone and iron ages all the way up to the second world war, the team has described how the restoration journey uncovered many secrets in the fort’s walls, including a hidden tunnel. 

Glencoe Folk Museum, Glencoe

Closed since October 2023 to make way for its £2.2m restoration project (designed by Mather & Co and Peter Drummond Architects), the folk museum is due to reopen this summer. Located in the Scottish Highlands, the collection is displayed across two 19th-century croft cottages. 

Preston Park, Stockton-on-Tees

Preston Park Museum & Grounds is renowned for its near-genuine Victorian Street of traditional drapers, blacksmiths and grocers. A large two-storey extension has been built to create a brand new exhibition space that will allow hundreds of never-before-seen objects from the collection to be displayed for the first time, as well as enabling the museum to display nationally significant loans for the first time. The institution was redeveloped to prepare for this year's S&DR200 festival, which marks 200 years since the world’s first ever passenger journey by steam train on the Stockton and Darlington railway.