The Horniman Museum to contribute to 'Cultural Cities'

Image: courtesy of the Horniman Museum - view towards the glasshouse

Future Cities Forum is welcoming the Chief Executive of the Horniman Museum and Gardens, Gordon Seabright, to our 'Cultural Cities' forum this week.

Gordon joined the museum as CEO in June 2024. Prior to taking up the role at the Horniman, Gordon was Chief Executive of Creative Land Trust, a charity tackling the loss of creative workspace for artists and makers in the UK.

Before that he led environmental charities for a decade, including as CEO of the Eden Project, following periods at the helm of the national cycling charity and the Royal Horticultural Society.

Outside work he is a trustee of parkrun Global, Five Talents (a development charity operating in East Africa), a non-executive director at an affordable housing provider in Cornwall, a Fellow of the Linnean Society and an Honorary Fellow of University of Exeter Business School.

Gordon will be talking at Future Cities Forum about the recent measures in sustainability that the Horniman has taken to preserve the buildings and gardens for generations to come.

The Horniman says:

'An incredible amount has been achieved on the Nature + Love project over the past nine months. Despite winter weather causing some delays with the outdoor spaces, we’re delighted that these will be opening month! Here are some highlights from across the site:

'The new glasshouse will provide our Gardens team with modern facilities for propagation, potting and all things plant care, helping them ensure our 16 acres continues to buzz with biodiversity. The building itself has sustainable environmental features including air source heat pumps and rainwater harvesting.

'A terrace around the building allows visitors to take a peek at what’s growing inside, and see the Gardens team in action. It leads visitors to a refurbished and replanted seating area which is a perfect place to relax and enjoy the view. The terrace will also be used as a hub for community engagement activities, as well as public workshops, with a focus on sustainable gardening and wellbeing.

'The nearby Community Garden has been developed with local partners to be a quieter, more secluded spot for everyone to enjoy respite and reflection among the winding paths and beautiful planting.

Community Garden

'The stunning new Gardens Cafe has now been constructed and glazed, and the internal fit out is taking place including the installation of the kitchen and furnishings.

'The bespoke crafted play equipment has been delivered and ready being installed next to the Gardens Cafe. The central feature of the play area – which is themed around local wildlife – is a wooden jetty which evokes the site’s history as a model boating pond. Underground drainage channels are being dug to minimise flooding.

'The new ramp up to the Nature Trail is now in place that will provide improved access onto the Trail. New interpretation panels are being added and will provide information on the diverse wildlife on the Trail and the area’s history as part of the Great North Wood.

'On the roof of the building we’ve installed 30 solar panels which will help power the new gallery. The panels cover an area more than twice the size of the mosaic at the front of the Museum. The panels will help save 4.1 tonnes of CO2e/year – roughly equivalent to the emissions generated from driving from London to Cape Town and back – and about £3,000 per year in electricity costs.

'The historic masonry has been repaired and the gallery’s decorative brickwork has been restored. The scaffolding was then taken down in March 2026.

'At ground level, we’ve carried out some essential damp proofing work to ensure the long-term preservation of the building and displays. And inside the gallery, the floor has been sanded and the space made ready for objects to be returned.

'The incredible task of preparing thousands of objects to go into the new displays is nearly complete. So far, 1,059 objects have been conserved, from the fossilised to the taxidermied, and from insect models to ichthyosaurs. The remaining 184 that need attention will still require nearly 2,000 hours of painstaking conservation!

'All of the plinths for displaying the objects have been built off-site and have started to arrive this month, and our curators are busy with the final editing of the new gallery labels and interpretation.

Paleo-mastodon cast showing the different before (right side) and after (left side) cleaning and conservation

'Our ambitious programme of consultation, co-production and testing with a range of schools, community groups and advisory panels is continuing.'

Image below: the Natural History Gallery interior, courtesy of the Horniman Museum.