This project ran from 2005-2009 and was one element of a vision to form a cultural quarter within Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The Hancock Museum was a natural sciences museum in Newcastle-upon-Tyne housed in a Grade 2 listed building. It occupied an elevated position at the northern entrance to the city centre, on the edge of Newcastle University’s campus. Occupying a prominent site on the Great North Road the brief was for the building to address its setting in relation to the city, and to maximise exhibition space with a reinterpretation of the varied collection by exhibition designers, Casson Mann. Also central to the scheme was a vision to unite three separate but important collections within the city - the natural history collections of the former Hancock Museum, the Greek and Etruscan artefacts from the Shefton Museum, and the collection of the Museum of Antiquities, with some fine and decorative art from the Hatton Gallery.

The project aimed to conserve and enhance the original historic building. As such, there were two distinct project phases - the refurbishment of the existing Hancock Museum, and an extensive internal restoration. The project included a new three storey extension at the rear of the original building to house special exhibitions, along with council and social rooms, a library, archives and an education zone. The new museum was re-named The Great North Museum and opened in May 2009.