How this 3-person architecture firm designed the world's largest museum

"With more than 100,000 artifacts dating back thousands of years, nearly 900,000 square feet of floor space, a site that spans more than 120 acres, and a total price tag estimated to be more than $1 billion, it's not hyperbole to call the Grand Egyptian Museum outside Cairo, Egypt, the most significant museum project in recent decades. It's the kind of blockbuster building that would have even the starriest of starchitects salivating at the chance"

""We hadn't built any buildings," says Róisín Heneghan, the firm's cofounder. "We had one project just starting on site when we won the competition." A lot has changed since then. The museum had an initial target opening date set for 2007, but several delays caused by the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, and the COVID pandemic kept stretching the timeline."

The Grand Egyptian Museum contains more than 100,000 artifacts dating back thousands of years. The complex covers over 120 acres and includes nearly 900,000 square feet of floor space. Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects won the 2002 international design competition despite having only three staff and no completed projects. The design features airplane hangar-sized concourses, sculpted landscapes, conservation workshops, and underground storage facilities. The main building offers 12 galleries and direct views of the Giza pyramids. A vast entrance hall beneath a sawtooth roof shades a ticketing area and showcases a 30-foot statue of Ramses II. The museum opened to the public on November 1 after delays from financial, political, and pandemic events.

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