The building is a fit-for-purpose facility that houses and manages the SMG collection and accommodates managed public visits, supports object conservation and provides staff facilities.

The Hawking Building enables the Science Museum Group to better store, conserve, research and digitise their unique collection, while also improving the process of displaying items across their museums.

The facility consists of a total area of circa 400,000ft2 of object storage, as well as support spaces such as a conservation laboratory, conservation workshop, loading bays and a collection study.

The purpose-built collection management facility provides a high performance, sustainable home for the collection. It maintains the stable environmental conditions essential for the long-term preservation of objects and artefacts. This includes specialist conservations stores, each with individually managed and maintained environmental conditions. These include storage for chemicals, documents,. pharmaceuticals, human remains, photographs and negatives, amongst others. 

A ‘fabric first’ approach maximised the performance of the facility’s building materials to improve energy efficiency, whilst reducing energy needs, operational costs and carbon emissions. The sustainable choice of a highly insulated and airtight building envelope allows the environmental conditions needed for the collection to be maintained with minimal energy use.

Solar photovoltaic panels on the roof meet part of the site’s electricity needs, with biomass boilers providing heating for dehumidification. Limiting access points to the building, the inclusion of a loading bay airlock and the use of intelligent LED lighting all further reduce the facility’s energy demands.

Over 300,000 historic objects have been carefully studied, digitised and moved into the new building, in a process that has taken several years.

The scheme received planning consent in 2018, with construction beginning in January 2019 and completed in November 2020. Following the relocation of the collection to the Hawking Building, the site opened to public tours in 2024.

GWP Architecture provided architectural services to SMG, before being novated to the contractor, whilst also undertaking the Lead Designer role.