Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum There are exquisite jewel green beetles, butterfly species by the thousand, fossils, deep sea creatures, Darwins original collecting albums, even a meteorite that landed in Egypt 80 years ago from Mars. The fabulous diversity of the natural world in which we live is all there at the Natural History Museum in London, and now a spectacular new wing, the Darwin Centre, which opens next week, will allow us a radically expanded degree of access both to the collections and to the people who gather and study them.
Natural History Museum unveils £78m Darwin Centre The Natural History Museum today unveiled its new £78m Darwin Centre, which shelters millions of plant and animal specimens within a giant concrete blob. Among the previously hidden gems to go on display will be the centre's scientists, who will work in full view of the public when the attraction is opened next week. Many of the experts said they were relishing the chance to perform in glass-fronted laboratories, some linked by intercom so visitors can ask about the work they are doing.