Exhibition Road is a street in

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

which is home to several major museums and academic establishments, including the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

and the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

Overview

The road gets its name from the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

of 1851, which was held just inside Hyde Park at the northern end of the road. After the central road in the area, Queen's Gate, it is the second thoroughfare in what was once Albertopolis. It provides access to many nationally significant institutions, including: *

(which incorporates the former

Geological Museum The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology) was a museum of geology in London. It started in 1835, making it one of the oldest public single science collections in the world. It transfe ...

) *

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, at the north end in Kensington Gore * Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, at the north end in Princes Gate *

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

(directly and via Imperial College Road) *

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

Abroad * Jagiellonian University London Study Centre in the Polish Hearth Club * London Goethe Institute * The Hyde Park Chapel of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Shared space

A design competition for plans of how to improve the street's design to reflect its cultural importance was held in 2003 by the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

. The competition was won by the architectural firm Dixon Jones for a

shared space Shared space is an urban design approach that minimises the segregation between modes of road user. This is done by removing features such as curb (road), curbs, road surface markings, traffic signs, and traffic lights. Hans Monderman and othe ...

scheme for the road and surrounding streets which would give pedestrians greater priority whilst still allow some vehicular traffic at a reduced speed. The project also aimed to improve the artistic and architectural merit of the streetscape. The scheme was completed ahead of the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Since the completion of the revised streetscape, its design has been criticised for increasing the accident rate in the locale, with reported conflict between motor vehicles and pedestrians due to the unified surface design across Exhibition Road.

Gallery

File:Kensington, London, UK - panoramio (52).jpg, South of Thurloe Place near South Kensington tube station File:Exhibition Road - geograph.org.uk - 512283.jpg, Looking south prior to the shared-space scheme File:Ice rink at natural history museum 231088.jpg, The

and winter

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

File:Museum Lane, London.JPG, Museum Lane separates the Natural History and Science museums File:London MMB »2E2 Exhibition Road.jpg, The V&A and the shared-space scheme File:ScienceMuseum.jpg, The

File:Main entrance, Imperial College, London (geograph 5751173).jpg, The main entrance of

File:Royal School of Mines, corner of Prince Consort and Exhibition roads.jpg, Royal School of Mines and Prince Consort Road File:Royal Geographical Society, Exhibition Road.jpg,

References

External links

Albertopolis: South Kensington from above
History, architecture and future plans, from the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

A Vision for Exhibition Road: A Space for the New Century
an

from the

Exhibition Road is reborn
from the

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

, dated 27 March 2008
Discover South Kensington
activities and cultural events
Road users mingle in naked scheme
from the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, dated 6 January 2005 {{Imperial College London, state=collapsed Museum districts in the United Kingdom South Kensington Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Great Exhibition

Overview

Shared space

Gallery

See also

References

External links