The new stair for the Wellcome Collection | WilkinsonEyre

A spectacular new stair is unveiled as Wellcome Collection nears completion of a £17.5million expansion of its venue. Designed by Stirling Prize winning architects Wilkinson Eyre, the stair spirals asymmetrically through three floors of the building and serves to bring brand new galleries and remodelled spaces together. The 17.5 metric ton steel structure is sculpted into a flowing, swirling form, enticing visitors to explore a bigger, bolder Wellcome Collection.

Wellcome Collection has expanded due to overwhelming demand. Designed for 100,000 visitors when it opened in 2007, the venue, which explores the connections between medicine, art and life, embarked on a major development project in 2013 when annual visitor numbers topped 550,000. Wellcome Collection is currently oversubscribed with visitors to its exhibition ‘The Institute of Sexology’ and the expansion, which includes new galleries, a remodelled Reading Room, research space and a new restaurant, will be complete when a second exhibition, ‘Forensics: The anatomy of crime’, opens on 26 February.