The National Railway Museum is located within the part of York that has produced the highest concentration of pre-Roman archaeological finds. The Roman settlement of Eboracum was one of the most important in the country; the construction of the new Station and associated works in the 1870s revealed that this area west of the walled city was the site of Eboracum’s largest cemetery. After the Romans and before the arrival of railways in the nineteenth century, the future site of the NRM and its context was cultivated fields and meadows. The buildings that exist on the site now where built in the 1970s by the North Eastern Railway (NER) as part of a major expansion of their operations on a largely greenfield site in York.

The Central Hall draws on the history of railway turntables and the geometric forms of roundhouses, metal tanks and water towers characteristic of railway landscapes. Its generous circular volume creates a theatrical orientation space that improves wayfinding and strengthens connections to the museum’s existing buildings through a series of ‘portals’, a device also common in classical museum architecture. The plan follows established museum design principles, providing a clear central hub from which collections, activities, administration, recreation and refreshments are visible and easily accessible. This organisational approach echoes precedents found in many major museums, including the Altes Museum in Berlin, where a legible spatial diagram enables intuitive movement without the need for extensive signage.

The material strategy combines a desire to be sympathetic to the listed load-bearing brick structures of Station Hall and other adjacent brick buildings, while crafting a distinctive, new building. A superstructure built from Douglas Fir is expressed internally, with other internal finishes designed to be robust and create a calming colour palette. Externally, the principal elevations at ground floor level are constructed from brick, referencing the widespread use of masonry within York. The upper drum of the main Central Hall building is clad in Copper or a Copper alloy, treated to prevent the colour transitioning from a darker brown to a green. It is a sustainable choice – a recycled material with unparallel longevity, gets naturally thicker over time and requires no maintenance.

The structure of Central Hall is conceived as a lightweight timber superstructure that reinforces the clarity of the building’s circular form. A series of Douglas Fir glulam frames radiate around the perimeter, forming a rhythmic structural system that spans between the outer ring beam and a central steel compression element. Triangulated timber members provide stiffness and allow the roof to achieve efficient long spans with minimal material. Steel tension rods stabilise the frames and control lateral movement, creating a hybrid system that combines timber and steel. Loads are transferred to slender steel columns, allowing the ground floor to remain open and flexible while expressing the structure internally.