Natural History Museum breaks ground on new research centre, University of Reading, 9 September 2025
A ground-breaking ceremony took place today [9 September] to celebrate construction commencing of the Natural History Museum’s new state-of-the-art collections, research and digitisation centre. The new facility will be based at the University of Reading-owned Thames Valley Science Park.
Located in Shinfield, this new centre will house purpose-built storage for 28 million specimens, around a third of the Museum’s vast collection. A major scientific research hub, it will provide innovative digital, analytical, and genomic technologies and facilities for the scientific community.
The museum’s collections of mammals, non-insect invertebrates (such as corals, crustaceans, molluscs, and worms), fossilised mammals and invertebrates, molecular collections, and micropalaeontology will be housed at the new centre in bespoke storage.