The North Wing will expand the existing 1872 building by 8,000-10,000 m2: it is planned to show a permanent exhibition about the history of the city, including the modern period, as well as temporary exhibitions, including large-scale "blockbusters" traveling to the largest museums in the world.
As conceived by Hall, the new building, repeating the contours of the site, will be enlivened by "subtracting" from its mass - niches and "cuts" through which sunlight will enter the building (25 lumens for each hall). The white concrete of these "recesses" will contrast with the red sandstone from Agra, which will be used for the facades.
"Cuts", according to the authors of the project, will bring the feeling of a fluid space to rectangular halls. The central "cut" forms a reservoir for collecting rainwater, which from there will flow into the pool in the greened courtyard between the old and new buildings: solar panels will be placed at its bottom, which will provide the museum with 60% of the electricity it needs.
The project, with a budget of Rs 2.75 billion ($ 43 million), includes, in addition to exhibition halls, a visitor center, a library, an archive, restoration workshops, a shop and a café.
In the international competition, for the first time in the history of Mumbai, held to select a project for a public building, 104 teams wished to participate, of which 8 finalists were selected to develop the project. In addition to Stephen Hall's bureau, these were the special award-winning Amanda Leavit and her bureau AL_A, Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, OMA, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Studio Mumbai, wHY and Zaha Hadid's workshop.
