Fashion Museum gets go-ahead

[View from New Bond Street. Credit: 6a architects]

Today, B&NES officially gave itself planning permission to go ahead with developing a new home for Fashion Museum Bath.

The decision – at today’s meeting of the planning committee – is a pivotal milestone in the journey to create a bold new home in the old central post office.

The project will secure the long‑term future of one of the world’s great fashion collections and re‑establish it in Bath city centre’s Milsom Quarter – an anchor development as part of the delivery of the Masterplan for the city’s fashion and design district.

With planning permission in place, the Museum moves from vision to delivery, to transform a historic building within the World Heritage Site into a world‑class museum celebrating the transformative power of fashion.

Councillor Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic & Cultural Sustainable Development, Bath & North East Somerset Council, said:

“Securing planning permission for Fashion Museum Bath is a landmark moment for our city. This project is about much more than a new museum: it is a transformative investment in Bath’s cultural future, bringing new life to historic buildings, creating inspiring spaces for learning and creativity, and ensuring that this world‑class collection can be enjoyed by generations to come. It is what this city, local authority and the West of England region deserve.”

Fashion Museum Bath will be housed within the Grade II listed former Old Post Office on New Bond Street, with a new courtyard building and public garden at the centre of the site. The proposals will sensitively restore, repair and adapt the historic building, combined with carefully considered contemporary interventions, to create an accessible, welcoming and future‑facing museum.

Once complete, the museum will more than double the floorspace of its former home at the Assembly Rooms, enabling significantly more of the internationally renowned Collection to be displayed and experienced by the public.

The project is accompanied by transformative public realm improvements, including the creation of a new city square and improved public space, which will create a welcoming, greener and accessible setting for the museum and its visitors.

Designing a world‑class museum

Award‑winning architects 6a have reimagined the Old Post Office and surrounding buildings to create a distinctive new cultural destination for both local communities and visitors to the city. 6a have recently reimagined Tate Liverpool, designed the new MK Gallery, and have designed flagship buildings for fashion designers, including Paul Smith and JW Anderson.

The approved designs transform the ground floor of the Old Post Office to form a generous, light‑filled public foyer, centred around a new museum garden, free to access, and incorporating displays, a café, and a museum shop.

New entrances will improve visibility, movement through the space, and create barrier-free access while respecting the character of the historic façade. These changes will be complemented by wider public realm improvements outside the building, creating a high-quality arrival experience and a new civic setting for the museum. Retractable, fabric awnings above windows and doors will manage sunlight and control temperature, protecting the Collection in the most sustainable way possible.

Two principal gallery floors will house dynamic Collection Galleries and changing exhibition spaces, enabling Fashion Museum Bath to display more of its collection than ever before while collaborating with partners, designers, creatives, and makers on changing displays. Exhibition designers JA Projects – who recently completed work on the new V&A East Museum & Galleries – are collaborating closely with the Fashion Museum team to develop inspiring new galleries.

The museum will be fully accessible with step-free access throughout, alongside a Changing Places facility. To the rear, unsympathetic, modern additions will be removed to create a new courtyard building for learning and events, alongside the landscaped courtyard garden, designed by Sarah Price Landscapes, which brings nature and biodiversity into the heart of the museum.

Tom Emerson OBE, Founding Director, 6a architects, said: 

“We are delighted to achieve planning permission for the Fashion Museum Bath and are grateful to the many hundreds of people who have contributed to the museum so far. The museum will bring people and fashion together, showcasing an extraordinary collection with energy and excitement, and create new spaces for learning and nature. The transformation of the former Post Office will continue Bath’s legacy of outstanding architecture with a museum designed for today and for future generations.”

Stephanie Macdonald OBE and Tom Emerson OBE co‑founded 6a architects in 2001. The London‑based studio has since established an international reputation for award‑winning projects, with a particular specialism in the sensitive transformation of historic buildings.

A catalyst for culture‑led regeneration

Fashion Museum Bath will act as a cornerstone of the wider Milsom Quarter regeneration, which will breathe new life into underused heritage buildings and transform public spaces. With an anticipated 250,000 visitors each year, Fashion Museum Bath will play a vital role in strengthening Bath’s cultural economy, supporting skills, learning and creativity, and reinforcing the city’s international reputation as a centre for heritage, culture and the creative industries.

Bath & North East Somerset Council have pledged £20 million to support the creation of the new Museum. The project has also received endorsement from the West of England Combined Mayoral Authority, with initial funding of £1.75 million granted in January this year, building on an earlier grant of £1.5 million.

Support has also come from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which has supported the project with funding of £768,000 to progress plans for the development of the new museum. Further funding related to the Museum’s collection has come from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Arts Council England.

The planning application (ref: 26/00101/REG03) was considered at the planning committee meeting on Wednesday, 13 May, following extensive public consultation on the plans.

Construction for Fashion Museum Bath is expected to begin in winter 2027, ahead of its target opening date of December 2030.

Fashion Museum Bath

Bath & North East Somerset Council has invested £8 million to acquire the former Post Office site, with the museum’s transformation expected to cost £39 million. The new Fashion Museum is also a key element of the Council’s £7 million Milsom Quarter programme.

In May 2025, development funding* of £768,000 was awarded by the Heritage Fund to help Fashion Museum Bath progress plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant of £7.2million.

Thanks to the money raised by National Lottery players, development funding has supported the progress of designs for the new museum, and an extensive community consultation, engagement and outreach activities programme with a range of audiences and local partners.

The project is supported by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority with £3.25 million of grant funding to date.

Saving world-class heritage, Fashion Museum Bath will be a catalyst for change, revitalising its Designated Collection in a new museum that will be an exemplar of environmentally sustainable retrofit in a listed building. The museum will inspire and challenge through fashion, exploring it as an art form and global industry, whilst celebrating the creativity of designers, makers, and wearers, and providing learning, skills, digital and wellbeing programmes.

Fashion Museum Bath will appeal to tourists and locals alike, driving socio-economic change and placemaking and supporting and facilitating the creative industries through championing craft, skills, learning & future talent, and creating pathways to jobs and opportunities. It will be a place of community and opportunity for fashion lovers, culture seekers, local audiences, the fashion industry and next generations. Additionally, it will support communities across the region with a range of programmes addressing barriers to access for people who are generally underserved by heritage. It will be a welcoming and accessible space for all.

The new museum will:

• Provide flexible galleries to display more of the internationally renowned Fashion Museum Bath Collection than ever before. 
• Showcase a changing programme of exhibitions and displays, as well as commissions from creative practitioners. 
• Reveal dedicated and accessible spaces for innovative learning and engagement, including lectures, workshops, events, school visits, and residencies.
• Offer café and retail areas.
• Offer commercial venue hire opportunities outside of core public hours.
• Support the creative industries by offering career pathways, talent development pipelines, and partnerships.
• Be an exciting and accessible welcoming space for all – the ‘Museum on the High Street’ is relevant for all ages and reduces barriers for those who have not engaged with heritage before.
• Establish a landmark cultural asset, free to local residents and uniting local, national and international communities through creative activities linked to fashion.

Fashion Museum Bath Collection: Fashion Museum Bath holds one of the world’s leading collections of fashion, spanning 400 years of human creativity, from 1600 to the present day. Founded in 1963 as the Museum of Costume, the original collection was gifted to the city of Bath by collector, writer, and dress historian Doris Langley Moore in 1959. Designated as a collection of outstanding national significance, it has since grown to 100,000 items, with strengths in European, especially British, fashionable dress and accessories. It also encompasses sketches, fashion magazines, fashion photography and designers’ archives.

The Collection includes many of the best examples of fashionable dress in worldwide collections.  It is the variety and extent of the collection, accessible in a single museum, that sets it out as rare and unusual on an international scale. 

The Old Post Office: The Old Post Office is one of only a few listed 20th-century buildings in the centre of Bath.   The project will bring back to life this key heritage and civic building that has fallen into disrepair and will be designed as an exemplar of environmentally sustainable retrofit. The Old Post Office offers up to 3500sqm of space for the Museum, a transformational change in scale to showcase more of the Collection.

Timings: It is anticipated that construction will start on site in 2027 and that the new museum will open in Autumn 2030. 

Milsom Quarter Regeneration: The Milsom Quarter Masterplan aims to reimagine Milsom Quarter as a vibrant destination for fashion, culture, business and living. Wider proposals include increased opportunities for creative workspaces, and enhancements to the public realm and streetscapes. These plans support Bath’s ambitions for sustainable, culture‑led regeneration and reinforce the Quarter’s role as a key hub for the city’s economic future.

For more information on the Milsom Quarter Masterplan, see our video and website.

At the heart of the Fashion Museum redevelopment is the creation of a new public square in front of the Old Post Office, the future home of the new Museum, and St Michael’s Church. Currently dominated by vehicle traffic, this area will be redesigned as an attractive, welcoming civic space with improved movement routes for pedestrians and cyclists, space for community events, and new green landscaping.

The public realm improvements will:

• Create a new public square outside St Michael’s Church and the Old Post Office, transforming a car‑dominated area into a welcoming civic space for the city.
• Support the new Fashion Museum Bath by delivering safer, wider pavements and improved public spaces essential for museum access and visitor safety.
• Make streets more welcoming and accessible, with wider pavements, raised crossings, and new cycle parking to improve walking and cycling throughout the Quarter.
• Maintain essential access for buses and Blue Badge holders, while improving disabled parking and loading areas for businesses.
• Add more trees and planting, supporting nature recovery, offering shade, and helping to cool the urban environment.
• Highlight Bath’s historic buildings and public spaces, creating a more attractive environment that celebrates the city’s architectural character.
• Provide flexible outdoor spaces for events, activities and learning, encouraging community use and supporting the cultural life of the Quarter.

For more information on the public realm improvements, see our website.