Left: the Temple of Diana, Ephesus, watercolour and bodycolour over pencil by William Walcot (1874-1943). © RIBA Library Drawings Collection.

A £3.27 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant is set to help the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Victoria & Albert Museum provide Architecture For All.

Due for completion in October 2004, the Architecture For All project is aimed at stimulating public imagination by boosting engagement with architecture and will cost a total of £10 million.

Plans include the re-housing of RIBA's massive collection of architectural drawings at the V&A and the creation of a new dedicated architecture gallery at the museum.

“What can I say? This is the news we've all been waiting for,” enthused RIBA President Paul Hyett.

Right: caricature bust, painted wood with a pipe by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944). © RIBA Library Drawings Collection.

“This marks the end of decades of uncertainty for the RIBA's architectural collections. By matching this generous grant – and match it we will - the doors to our collections will be open to the public in under 18 months time, taking architecture and design to everyone: the young and old, the interested and those who are just curious.”

“Through our work with the V&A the curious may become scholars and many more will come to love architecture. This project takes architecture to where it belongs - to the community.”

As well as a new Architecture Gallery to be designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects, RIBA's Drawings, Manuscripts and Archives Collection will be rehoused at the V&A. The huge archive will be displayed alongside the museum's Prints, Drawings and Paintings in the Henry Cole Wing.

New object stores, offices, public study rooms and a group teaching room have been designed and physical/virtual access to collections through education, exhibitions and on-line projects is to be extended. A joint education post has been created and will be filled later this year.

Left: drawing inscribed 'La Héle des Mesures', made for a lecture given in London, December 1947 by Le Corbusier. © RIBA Library Drawings Collection.

“The treasures of the collections range from drawings by Inigo Jones held by the RIBA to architectural masterpieces such as the Norfolk House Music Room in the V&A,” explained Mark Jones, Director of the V&A.

“This grant will enable us to show more of these precious works to a wider audience increasingly interested in architecture.”

RIBA and the V&A are also collaborating on a range of events over the next few months to bring architecture to a wider audience.

A highlight will be a talk by Daniel Libeskind, designer of the V&A's Spiral, Imperial War Museum North and plans for the former World Trade Centre site in New York, at Sense and the City Too during Architecture Week in June.

To find out more about this huge and fantastic project click on this link to visit the Architecture For All website. The link opens a new window, close it to rejoin the site.