Imperial War Museum
Parkside Head Office, Southwark, London
Strategic programme and project management leadership for a landmark cultural heritage transformation
Client
Imperial War Museums
Procurement
Two-stage Design & Build
Value
£3.6m construction + £0.6m fit out
Role
Senior Project Manager, Technical Advisor & Contract Administrator
Project Overview
Imperial War Museums required a new London head office to support a major shift in the organisation’s working culture. The existing All-Saints Annex had reached the end of its useful life and no longer reflected the collaborative, project-based approach the leadership team wished to embed.
The chosen site — a constrained rear yard behind the Annex with direct access to the main museum — demanded a construction strategy that would minimise disruption while delivering a high-quality, future-focused workspace. The result is Parkside: a contemporary modular building that now brings IWM’s teams together in a single, connected environment.
Objectives & Brief
The project set out to deliver:
A modern, flexible workspace to enable collaboration across departments
A physical home that supports IWM’s transformation programme and breaks down long-standing siloed working
A building that could be delivered rapidly and safely within a constrained central London site
Minimal disruption to museum staff and neighbouring residents
A contemporary architectural expression achieved through modular construction
Award Winning
Parkside was successfully delivered in late 2020 and formally opened in July 2021 by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The building demonstrates how modern methods of construction can coexist with architectural ambition on challenging urban sites.
The project has since been recognised as Offsite Project of the Year at the Building Awards — a testament to the collaborative approach adopted by the team and the resilience with which challenges were managed.
Parkside now provides IWM with a contemporary, efficient and connected headquarters that supports the organisation’s future.