ARCHITECTS APPOINTED FOR LOCOMOTION'S £4.5M BUILDING

AOC Architecture has been appointed by the Science Museum Group to start work on a £4.5m project to deliver a new collection building at Locomotion in Shildon. Once complete, the facility will house up to 50 rail vehicles, bringing the total at Locomotion to 120 and creating the UK’s largest rail vehicle display.

The building is part of Locomotion’s £6m improvement programme to regenerate the museum’s historic site, with Durham County Council contributing £2.25m to support the delivery of the new building. The architects will aim to create a sustainable, low maintenance and low energy-usage building, which is sympathetic to the local area and accessible for visitors.

The final design will feature a lightweight, steel frame construction that will be open to the public and will house railway vehicles in a stable environment. Construction is due to start in April 2022, subject to planning permission being granted for the development, with work scheduled to be complete by early 2023.

Locomotion is already home to famous vehicles from railway history such as the Deltic, HST and APT prototypes and the original Sans Pareil, which competed against Rocket in the Rainhill Trials of 1829.

The line-up of new vehicles travelling to the new building will be determined in the coming year, but for the first time, it will enable Locomotion to theme displays and tell more comprehensive railway stories.