Design for Victoria and Albert Museum by John Belcher, Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road fronts, 1894

Process engraving on paper, after a perspective view drawn by W. B. McGuinness of John Belcher's design for completing the southern portion of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Museum is seen from the south west, showing a stepped handling of the Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road elevations, in which a principal block is fronted by lower ranges. On the Exhibition Road front, the projection of the lower range is relatively slight. In the case of the Cromwell Road façade, the projection of the lower range is pronounced, incorporating at its centre a concave-sided forecourt. In both elevations, the lower ranges are articulated by a giant order enclosing round-headed arches; four domed pavilions surmount that fronting Cromwell Road. Behind and above these ranges, the principal block is articulated by sets of columns divided by niches. The building is surmounted by a parapet, with a tower rising behind the Exhibition Road elevation and two colonnaded domes rising above the Cromwell Road façade. The Science Schools block (now the Henry Cole Wing) is visible on the left. Title; printed signature of McGuinness; labelled 'Reprinted from "The Builder," December 29, 1894'.

In 1890-91, an architectural design competition was launched for completing the buildings of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Excepting the Casts Courts and Rooms 41 and 45, at this time all of the area to the south of the Museum's Art Library (now the National Library) was yet to be developed. Eight architects were invited to compete. John Belcher's design is seen in this print of a perspective drawing by W. B. McGuinness. The Building News felt that McGuinness's view seemed 'to conjure up in the mind the ruins of some stately edifice in the Venetian Lagoons: the dark and massive features appear to rise out of a wet shiny pavement or lake'. Surmounted by a pair of domes and fronted by a lower range containing, on the Cromwell Road side, a convex entrance court, Alfred Waterhouse (architect of the nearby Natural History Museum) considered Belcher's proposal 'a magnificent design, the most original of the 8 [entries]'. Aston Webb, however, received higher marks on practical points such as light, wall space and cost. Belcher was awarded second place, and the Museum was extended to Webb's designs.

E.675-1966