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34-740: Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington , London which is home to several major museums and academic establishments, including the Victoria and Albert Museum , the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum . The road gets its name from the Great Exhibition 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

68-532: A chain. Residents have included: Geological Museum The Museum of Economic Geology was established in 1837 in a building at 6 Craig's Court , Whitehall, at the suggestion of Henry de la Beche , the first director general of the Geological Survey . The museum's library was founded by de la Beche in 1843, mainly by donation from his own library. Initially under the Ordnance Survey ,

102-441: A six-day siege during which one of the hostages was killed. The British SAS finally stormed the building in a 17-minute operation, bringing out the hostages and the one surviving gunman who was subsequently sentenced to 27 years in prison for his part in the offences. The first church to rise among the fields at Brompton was the socially notable, but widely considered architecturally ugly, Holy Trinity Brompton in 1829. It served

136-583: A wide area from the Kensington Canal in the west to the Kensington Turnpike in the north. The first incumbent, one Percival Frye, just happened to be the nephew of Archdeacon Alfred Pott , vicar of the neighbouring Kensington parish. It was followed by: The area is the subject of Donovan 's song "Sunny South Kensington", about the area's reputation as the hip part of London in the 1960s. Roman Polanski 's film, Repulsion (1965)

170-490: Is furthermore criss-crossed by the Exhibition Road and the stately Queen's Gate and Prince Consort Road . Until road lay-out improvements in 2012, the area was afflicted with traffic congestion and likened to a series of traffic islands. Modern development of the area is the result of the creation of the temporary Albertopolis reached by Exhibition Road, whose terrain now includes the Natural History Museum ,

204-467: Is the second thoroughfare in what was once Albertopolis . It provides access to many nationally significant institutions, including: 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 competition was won by the architectural firm Dixon Jones for a shared space scheme for

238-804: The Alliance française , as well as the Consulate General of France, not far from the French Embassy in Knightsbridge . With a French bookshop and many international cafés in the area, it has been called "Paris's 21st arrondissement". In April and May 1980 a group of six Iranian Arabs entered the Iranian Embassy in South Kensington and took the staff, visitors and a diplomatic policeman hostage. There followed

272-758: The First World War it has become a cosmopolitan area attracting Belgian and French refugees, but also Poles during the Second World War and after, as well as latterly Spanish, Italian, and American expatriates. Some residents also have a Middle Eastern origin. The French presence is emphasised by the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle , the French Institute , housing a theatre now used as the Ciné Lumière with nearby

306-888: The Geological Museum , the Science Museum , the Victoria and Albert Museum, London Oratory and since 1915, the Lycée Français . Other local institutions include the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum , Polish Hearth Club , London Goethe-Institut , the Royal Albert Hall , Imperial College London , the Royal Geographical Society , the Royal College of Art , the Royal College of Music and between 1903 and 1991,

340-572: The Royal College of Organists there. The market gardens of the rural area began to make way for a series of hospitals, such as the Brompton Hospital and the New Cancer Hospital along nearby Fulham Road. Adjacent landowners began to develop the land in the 1860s as a result of the transport hub and the general urbanisation boom west of London, and led to the eventual absorption of Brompton and its station into Kensington. It

374-596: The Royal College of Organists , West London Air Terminal , the Ismaili Centre, London and the late comer 1960s Baden-Powell House some of which are administratively within the City of Westminster , but considered to be "within range of South Kensington". Although the SW7 postcode mainly covers South Kensington, it goes into Knightsbridge . The only Royal Mail Post Office in South Kensington closed in 2019. Following

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408-553: The Victoria and Albert Museum ). To the north is the Kensington Gore , to the south the winding Fulham Road and streets leading to Sloane Square and to the west, the residential and hotel area of Gloucester Road . South Kensington station lies on the junction of several thoroughfares: principally the Old Brompton Road , Harrington Road and Pelham Street and a stone's throw from the arterial Cromwell Road . It

442-512: The Victoria and Albert Museum . The museum was reopened by the then Duke of York in July 1935, after the completion of the new building on Exhibition Road in South Kensington two years prior - it had housed the ill-starred World Economic Conference in June 1933, which had brought together the representatives of 66 nations in a failed effort to end the then-prevalent global depression . The cost of

476-538: The 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park , an 87-acre (35 ha) area, west of what is now Exhibition Road, was purchased by the commissioners of the exhibition, in order to create a base for institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, leading to the foundation of the Royal Albert Hall , three museums, the Royal School of Mines later a world renowned technological university, the Royal College of Music and

510-683: The Cromwell Road. In 1906 the new Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway company opened the Brompton Road tube station in the vicinity, thus adding a link directly to the political, commercial and financial heart of the capital in Westminster , the West End and the City of London , but owing to under use, it was shut in 1934. During the Second World War it was used by the 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade . Since

544-600: The NHM] is like switching over from a television programme made for schools to a big-screen epic, choreographed by Busby Berkeley ." However, it was not until 1998 that the previously difficult to find corridor between what had been the NHM and Geological Museum buildings was replaced by a new link gallery. The former Geological Museum galleries are now known as the Red Zone in the NHM's plans and internal directional signage. In 2014

578-569: The Planets , British Fossils , Pebbles , Treasures of the Earth and finally British Offshore Oil and Gas , which opened in 1988. Treasures of the Earth was the first major museum gallery in the world to integrate computers presenting images and text adjacent to artefacts as part of the information process within the exhibition. The central feature film, Liquid Assets , in the Oil and Gas exhibition

612-591: The custody of the Natural Environment Research Council to the newly independent Natural History Museum (NHM) by 1985. Renamed as Visions of the Earth, the Central Hall of the former Museum was transformed in 1996 to a design by Neal Potter. This included the installation of a large escalator (rising eleven metres at a 30° slope) that ascends continuously over two storeys and passes through a model globe. That globe rotated around

646-536: The escalator, with dramatic sound effects based on Jimi Hendrix 's " Third Stone from the Sun ", attempting to give an impression of the flux in the core of the Earth. The escalator was a response to survey feedback that few visitors navigated the Geological Museum's monumental staircase to the top floors. Potter's major re-ordering of the galleries means that visitors are now encouraged to start their visit at

680-401: The locale, with reported conflict between motor vehicles and pedestrians due to the unified surface design across Exhibition Road. South Kensington South Kensington is a district just west 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

714-596: The museum administration moved to the Department of Woods and Forests in 1845. Larger premises soon became necessary, and a design for a new building, the Museum of Practical Geology, was commissioned from James Pennethorne . Built on a long narrow site with frontages in Piccadilly and Jermyn Street , that building housed the galleries, as well as a library, a 500-seat lecture theatre, offices and laboratories. It

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748-514: The museum formed its own design team which, working closely with the scientists and technicians, produced a series of temporary and permanent exhibitions starting with the re-presentation of the gem collection and then, with a design team led by Giles Velarde (Head of Exhibition Design from 1974 to 1988), produced Early Days of Geology in Britain , Black Gold , Britain Before Man , Journey to

782-564: The name "Institute of Geological Sciences". In 1971 the museum employed the late designer James Gardner to design and produce The Story of the Earth , which was acknowledged as a significant breakthrough in science museum design and critically acclaimed and imitated worldwide. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and became well known for the huge reproduction of a rock face, cast from site in Scotland , and for its planetarium , active volcano model and earthquake machine. Between 1971 and 1974

816-604: The new building was stated at around £220,000 by the First Commissioner of Works . Following the move, the museum became well known for the many dioramas (three-dimensional paintings) used to interpret geology and one or two mining techniques. These have largely been dismantled since the Natural History Museum took over the museum in 1986. In 1965, the museum was merged with the British Geological Survey and Overseas Geological Surveys, under

850-427: The railways in the late 19th century and the opening (and shutting) and naming of local tube stations. The area has many museums and cultural landmarks with a high number of visitors, such as the Natural History Museum , the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum . Adjacent affluent centres such as Knightsbridge , Chelsea and Kensington , have been considered as some of the most exclusive real estate in

884-409: 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 . Since the completion of the revised streetscape, its design has been criticised for increasing the accident rate in

918-514: The top of the building by ascending an escalator as part of the visit itinerary. The previously open-sided balconies of the atrium space are now solid walls lined with slabs of recycled slate. These are sand-blasted to show the major stars in the night sky and the planets in the Solar System . The Museums Association 's journal Museum Practice reported in 2007 that "the contrast between galleries just before and just after Potter’s arrival [at

952-718: The uses of purposes of use and ornament The collections were accordingly arranged in two main sections covering natural materials found in the United Kingdom, and industrial products made from them. There were three secondary sections, covering mechanical appliances used to process raw materials, specimens of historical products, and foreign materials imported in their raw state. The museum also included maps, mosaics, glass, pottery, and busts of prominent geologists and scientists, including William Smith and James Hall , though in 1901 over 2,700 decorative arts and archaeological items such as glassware and ceramics were transferred to

986-439: The world. As is often the case in other areas of London, the boundaries for South Kensington are arbitrary and have altered with time. This is due in part to usage arising from the tube stops and other landmarks which developed across Brompton. A contemporary definition is the commercial area around the South Kensington tube station and the adjacent garden squares and streets (such as Onslow Square and Thurloe Square , opposite

1020-656: Was constructed between 1845 and 1849, and was opened by Prince Albert on May 14, 1851. The purpose of the museum, as summarised in the Descriptive Guide , published in 1867, was: to exhibit the rocks minerals, and organic remains, illustrating the maps and sections of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom: also to exemplify the applications of the Mineral productions of these Islands to

1054-491: Was due in part to a considerable decrease in sales between 2015 and 2016 in addition to the company expanding its online presence. Tim Waterstone opened his first eponymous Waterstones bookshop in 1982 in Old Brompton Road. It has given way to a Little Waitrose . Caffè Nero also started life as a single coffee shop in Old Brompton Road, opened by Ian Semp in 1990. It was subsequently bought out and became

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1088-476: Was partly filmed in South Kensington. Morgan cars , a British family-owned hand built sportscar company operates a main dealership out of Astwood Mews in South Kensington. Christie's auction house had a second London salesroom in the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington from 1975, which primarily handled the middle market. Christie's permanently closed the South Kensington salesroom in July 2017 as part of their restructuring plans announced March 2017. The closure

1122-470: Was sealed by the arrival of the Metropolitan and District Railways at Brompton, but for public relations reasons, it was re-named "South Kensington" in 1868. To facilitate public access to the museums, the railway company built a pedestrian tunnel directly from the station concourse to an exit halfway up Exhibition Road, next to the now defunct Royal Mail sorting office, to avoid crowds having to cross

1156-543: Was shot and viewed vertically from a circular gallery and won a major award from the IVCA in 1989. "The Power Within" exhibition on seismology includes a reconstruction of the 1995 Kobe earthquake . Following the relocation of the British Geological Survey's academic activities to Keyworth , the museum galleries (renamed The Earth Galleries ) and the majority of its collections were transferred from

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