First look at “vibrant” new cultural venue for County Durham revealed

Durham County Council has released a visualisation of what the former DLI Museum and Gallery will look like after it is transformed into a “vibrant” exhibition centre, gallery and café.

With a design inspired by the original museum’s 1960s architecture, the new building will be almost twice the size and feature a dedicated space for the display of items from the DLI Collection and Archive.

Its interior will be “state-of-the-art”, allowing the venue to host touring national and international exhibitions. A creative hub and artist in resident space, meanwhile, will provide a platform for creative professionals to showcase their works and for the public to get involved.

There will also be a new restaurant and café and the surrounding grounds will be landscaped to provide a place for quiet contemplation, as well as areas for creative activity.

The venue will complement plans for the new History Centre, providing a second dedicated site to showcase the DLI Collection and increasing access for the public to view exhibits and artefacts.

Durham County Council’s Cabinet agreed to redevelop the site last month, and Cllr Elizabeth Scott, the local authority’s Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, expressed her delight at seeing the project moving forward.

She said: “Together with the new History Centre, this venue will support our ambitions to build a more prosperous future for the county by attracting visitors to the city, boosting our creative and visitor economies and providing enriching cultural experiences for our communities.

“If successful, County Durham’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2025 will deliver even more benefits of this kind. It’s an incredibly exciting time for County Durham and the wider region and, as we enter this crucial final stage of the competition, I ask everybody to continue to back the Durham 2025 campaign.”