An artist's impression of the atrium and cocoon in the new Darwin Centre building © NHM.

It is not just the specimens housed at The Natural History Museum that have experienced evolution. The museum itself is continuing to reconstruct as it grows and changes for the demands of the modern world.

The NHM revealed further details this week of its second phase of the Darwin Centre. The £78 million landmark project will open in September 2009 and is the most significant development at the museum since it moved to South Kensington in 1881.

State of the art facilities are due to be completed by September 2009 © NHM

A giant eight-storey cocoon will bring together scientists and the public in an innovative attempt to let them see science in action. Visitors will journey into the cocoon to see how the museum scientists work, with a chance to see into the collections and laboratories.

Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the NHM said “At the Darwin Centre, we will show the public more of both our vital research and our internationally important collections. There is no other museum in the world that brings the public and scientists together in this way or on this scale.”

20 million insect and plant specimens will be stored in the new Darwin Centre building © NHM.

The completion of the project comes in the same year as the bicentennial anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. The NHM are celebrating Darwin’s scientific ideas and their impact as part of Darwin200 - a national programme of events around his two hundredth birthday on 12 February 2009.

The building will also safeguard 20 million insect and plant specimens in a state-of-the-art facility. Specimens will be held in 3.3 kilometres of cabinets and 2,500 people per day will be able to take a self-guided journey through the collections and research areas.

Funding for the project has come from many supporters but the largest contributions have come from the Heritage Lottery Fund (£20.5m), Department for Culture Media and Sport (£10.7m) and The Wellcome Trust (£10m).

The old and new mix seemlessly at the museum site © NHM.

An area will be dedicated to the study of nature allowing wildlife groups and societies access to the collections. The Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity will allow users to get first-hand information about the natural world from museum experts.

Find out more about Darwin200 at www.darwin200.org.