LONDON.- Sir John Soane’s Museum is looking forward to welcoming visitors through its doors once again from 1 October 2020, and is committed to ensuring their safety and wellbeing, as well as that of staff and volunteers.

Due to the nature and layout of the Museum, a number of changes will be implemented upon opening. These include a one-way route around the collection, an initial reduction in opening hours to three days a week, and free timed ticketed entry bookable in advance only, with staff on hand to give information and guidance. Please see below for further details of the procedures that will be in place, in line with the latest Government guidelines.

These measures will mean that visitors to the Soane Museum are able to enjoy exploring the house and museum of one of the foremost architects of the Regency era, and the collection of eccentrically-displayed paintings, sculpture, architectural fragments and models, books, drawings and furniture.

Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth (now running 1 October 2020 – 3 January 2021) has been extended, and will re-open with the Museum. The art of contemporary artists Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell reflects on the capacities of architecture to bear witness to the social, cultural, political, economic and technological relationships that define contemporary society. Artworks spanning four-decades of the artists' career are displayed throughout the Museum in dialogue with its historic interiors.

There are also many ways to discover the Museum at home. Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth can be seen online, and the Soane Museum can be viewed through the interactive 3D-model Explore Soane. Regular updates and insights into the collection can be found on the Museum’s blog and social media channels (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook). Visitors can also go behind the scenes of a significant restoration project that ended in 2016, with the free-to-view three-part Opening Up The Soane series.

Dr Bruce Boucher, Deborah Loeb Brice Director, said: The safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers remains our top priority, and whilst our historic spaces present particular issues, we are confident that we will be ready to open safely in the autumn. We look forward to once more welcoming our visitors to this magical building, and in the meantime hope visitors both here and all over the world enjoy seeing our Museum in different ways online.




Visiting safely

The Museum follows the latest Government advice and will be updating procedures wherever necessary. Measures when the Museum reopens will include:

• Reduced opening hours, initially on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 11am to 4pm

• Timed, ticketed free entry, which must be booked online in advance, with further information to be released shortly on the Museum’s website

• A new one-way route around the building, with staff trained to direct visitors around the museum

• Where necessary, entry to smaller spaces such as the Picture Room will be restricted (though wherever possible these will still be visible behind stanchions)

• Regular cleaning of touch-points and surfaces

• Visitors advised to wear face coverings when visiting