National Archive & Library

The RAF Museum occupies the former Hendon Aerodrome, a historically important site in British aviation. The colonnade building at its heart wraps around two Grade II listed hangars from 1918, their interiors spanned by distinctive latticed timber Belfast trusses. Nex won the national competition when the colonnade’s glazing, roofing and services had reached the end of their serviceable lives.

The Masterplan will reorganise the colonnade across two floors and open a largely inaccessible building to the public. On the ground floor, new visitor spaces bring together a simulator experience, café, retail, flexible event rooms and a children’s play area into a single coherent visitor journey.

The spatial design will draw on the Overview Effect, the shift in perspective reported by pilots and astronauts viewing the Earth from above. Patterned floors and suspended ceiling elements will refer to cloud formations and weather systems, drawing visitors into the world of flight. An immersive learning space for school groups supports the museum’s wartime classroom and air-raid shelter.

On the first floor, a new national Archive, Library and Research Centre will bring together 140,000 books and 46,000 objects for the first time. Designed to international collection storage standards, with specialist environmental controls protecting light-sensitive material, the spaces will open the collection to researchers, schools and museum visitors. New lifts and stairs will provide step-free access throughout.

The full decarbonisation of the building runs through every element of the project: a high-performance curtain wall façade, roof replacement and insulation, new heating and ventilation systems, and a site-wide energy centre replaced with solar and air-source heat pump technology.

When completed, the project will give the public access to the archive for the first time, decarbonise the building and return the colonnade to active use around the historic hangars.