The HLF first round pass* means that the Design Museum can now progress to the second stage of the HLF application process. The museum has up to two years to submit more detailed plans and apply for £4.9 million of HLF support for this project.

Final costs for the project will be confirmed as the detailed design process proceeds. The Design Museum is fortunate to have already secured a substantial proportion of the funding required for the project in the form of significant contributions from the developer and the Conran Foundation. The remainder of the funding required is being raised through a Major Fundraising Campaign which is in its very early stages.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea granted planning permission for Chelsfield's scheme to modify the Grade 2 listed former Commonwealth Institute building on 19 July 2010.

The original Commonwealth Institute architect was the distinguished practice of Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall. The architect for the developers of the project is OMA, based in Rotterdam, the practice established by Rem Koolhaas. The Design Museum has selected John Pawson to carry out the design of the interior of the museum after an OJEU competitive selection process. 

Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, comments: "We are thrilled that after such a long time of uncertainty, the long term future of the Commonwealth Institute is now secure. This is a great chance to build the new Design Museum which the world will learn from."

John Pawson, adds: "I'm very excited to be playing a part in turning this remarkable 1960s building into a world class museum, dedicated to showing design in a new way. The original architecture has many distinctive qualities, which won't be lost in this exciting opportunity to repossess a cultural building for a new cultural purpose."

Notes to editors

*A first-round pass means the project meets the HLF criteria for funding and they believe that it has the potential to deliver high-quality benefits and value for Lottery money. The application was in competition with other supportable projects, so a first-round pass is an endorsement of outline proposals. Having been awarded a first-round pass, the project now has up to two years to submit fully developed proposals to compete for a firm award.

Further information

Ashley Woodfield, Press Manager, Design Museum on 020 7940 8787 or ashley@designmuseum.org