The tunnel was originally the first stage of building an underground tunnel beneath the Thames, but has been repurposed in a master plan by Tate Harmer → and Grimshaw to house the museum.

By installing the striking cantilevered staircase, which also acts as a viewing platform down into the shaft, the Scheduled Monument has now become an accessible, open and dramatic space for performances and museum facilities.

One of the challenges of the shaft’s redevelopment was installing the staircase, which had to be carefully inserted piece by piece through the shaft’s relatively small entranceway.

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