The Natural History Museum’s new permanent gallery, Fixing Our Broken Planet, explores the biggest challenges to planetary and human health, plus the science-backed solutions to address them. Housed in the museum’s iconic 1881 Waterhouse Building, the exhibition’s light-touch approach minimises material use and celebrates the restored Victorian details.

Our Environmental Intelligence team was appointed as sustainability consultants for the exhibition fit-out, which demanded transparency and the reduction of unseen environmental impacts. We collaborated closely with the Natural History Museum’s design team through workshops to make collective decisions on materials selection, sourcing, embodied carbon, and the circular economy.

This iterative process was accompanied throughout by formal reporting, KPI performance tracking and whole-life carbon assessment, which created time for discussion and informed decision-making at each design stage. We tailored the NHM’s sustainability requirements to the exhibition and produced data collection templates for the exhibition contractor, supporting them through the upskilling process.

The format of the exhibition reflects its message. As a result of our analysis, some digital displays were replaced to reduce emissions, and plinths were produced out of innovative 3D-printed recycled ceramic by LaMaquina.

We discovered that bespoke glass display cases are high in embodied carbon due to the quality of the glass, which has to minimise reflections and block harmful UV rays from reaching delicate specimens. Since the identification of showcase re-use as a large opportunity early in the analysis process, the Natural History Museum has continued to champion modular approaches to its showcase design to increase its flexibility and adaptability.