Museum Manoeuvres: Designing the Museum

Initial designs

In January 2014, PLB Ltd were selected to be the designers to help create the new museum in Lyneham.

Over several months from late 2014 and into 2015, staff held focus groups with REME soldiers and officers, members of the local community in Arborfield and members of the local community in Lyneham, including families. We listened to what you said and looked at the strengths of the collection and the key stories which need to be told. This informed the new layout as well as subjects and objects to be included.

As the designs for the new museum progressed, rooms were given definite themes to them. The plan was for the visitor to begin their experience in galleries looking at World War Two and find out why the Corps was formed. A new vehicle hall was to show the variety of vehicles and operations which REME have been involved. Plus, displays dedicated to the trades of the Corps and the lives of REME men and women when off duty, a dedicated armoury to display the hundreds of weapons held in the collection and the final area would include displays dedicated to remembrance and celebrating the achievements of the Corps.

A series of concept drawings helped to bring to life the plans so far:

Concept drawings of a hall with vehicles displayed.

Initial designs visualising the new main vehicle gallery.

Concept drawings of a gallery with weapons displayed.

Visualising the new Armourer’s Hall.

Concept drawings of a gallery with display cases and a red carpet.

Initial designs for the Beyond the Uniform Gallery.

Renovation and redesign

Building work got underway for the new museum in Lyneham and, despite restricted access to the building site, the team were busy planning what would be going into the new displays. One of our main considerations was our vehicle collection – they’re all so big! We worked with the designers to plan where different vehicles could go and what story they could tell.

Building in poor state with rubble around it.

Building with fresh white paint and new patio.

Our new Education Suite before (March 2015) and after renovation (August 2015), showing just how much work went into making our new home suitable.

An empty large hall with balcony and double doors.

The and former dining room refreshed and looking like a great blank canvas for our WW2 Gallery.

Diagrams of vehicles cut out and placed on top of a piece of paper.

Visualising how the vehicles could work in the space.

An empty vehicle hall.

The large, newly built vehicle hall.

Concept sketch drawings of a vehicle hall.

Updated designs visualising the Around the World vehicle hall.

A large part of the redesign work involved looking at our collections and deciding which items help us tell the story of REME. We returned to our collections of oral histories and letters to try and find key information which allow the story to be told by REME members in their own words. We also searched through our Pictorial Archives to be able to use more images of REME both at work and at play.

Once we moved across to Lyneham, it became evident that essential building works were needed in order to ensure that the building was fit for purpose as a museum and that our visitors have the best experience possible.

Installing a new museum

After a very intense work period during which various building issues were addressed, work began on implementing the new museum design. This included new cases, display structures, false walls, painting, plastering, lighting, sound and more. The work was carried out by a team from The Workhaus and Glasshaus, working all hours of the day to get everything in place on time.

Museum display plinth mid-renovation, a vehicle covered behind.

Progress on the Morris Commercial display in the WW2 Gallery.

Renovation inside a room with lockers and display cases in background.

The Soldier First and Beyond the Uniform galleries mid-installation.

Staff were now finalising the graphics and text to provide the visitor with the extra information to complement the displays. For this we drew on our extensive Pictorial Archives, which numbers over 60,000 images dating from when the Corps was formed in 1942.

Once the building side of the installation was completed, the Collections team would get their chance to begin bringing out all the objects selected for display and putting them into the relevant cases.

We would like to thank all the REME officers and soldiers, current and former, who gave up their time to give input and feedback for the displays. A big thank you to the public who offered their support and made us feel so welcome in our new home.

New facilities

Alongside the development of the gallery designs and displays, the museum team worked on developing new education sessions, designing the new café and reorganising the extensive archive collection.

The REME Archives was given its new home in a brand new, reconfigured and climate-controlled storage facility, with equipment for digitisation. This makes it so much easier to look after the Archives according to professional standards.

In Arborfield, the Archives were stored in three separate parts: the Documentary Archives, the Pictorial Archives and the Technical Archives. In Lyneham, these have been merged into one Archive under the watchful eye of a new Museum Archivist.

Archive facility with rolling stacks on one side.

All of the Archives handily located in one room, on mobile shelving. Our collections of EMERs and AESPS have a special room all of their own.

We reorganised the collections storage, acquired new material, assessed the Archives Service and made arrangements to improve the way the Archive is managed and services delivered. Although not yet open, we prepared ourselves to receive enquiries and visitors with a new research service.

Another new role was created to work alongside the new Archivist. The Corps Historian would work within archives, research and act as a fount of REME knowledge.

The REME Museum opened to the public in June 2017.

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