The Museum has ambitious plans to restore and open up a whole new floor of Soane's incredible interiors for the public to see and enjoy. Eight newly restored rooms and spaces, together with hundreds of original objects, works of art, books and sculptures will be on display, together with the UK's largest collection (over 100) of historical architectural models. A new gallery will be created to show temporary exhibitions and a new entrance and shop, disabled lift and education facilities are all planned as part of a £7M project that will enable more people to learn about and be inspired by this visionary architect and designer - Sir John Soane (1753-1837). The Museum is a great success and currently enjoys record attendances of 100,000 visitors each year - a huge number for a small house museum. However, entrance to the Museum is free to all visitors – and increasing numbers of visitors can compromise and even damage the historical fabric of this special museum. In order that we can accommodate growing numbers of visitors without diluting the unique atmosphere of the museum , we have developed a project that will allow even more of Soane's original house and collections to be seen. Under our proposals, up to 25,000 additional visitors can be accommodated and offered better facilities to enable them to enjoy and learn from their visit. Coinciding with the opening of the 2012 Olympics, the first exhibition in the new exhibition gallery will look at the architectural and design history of sports stadia from the time of the classical Greek civilization to London 2012 and beyond. This exhibition will be sponsored by Populous - architects of the 2012 Olympic Stadium. Fully costed plans and architects drawings for the Opening up the Soane project are available, which is scheduled to begin in autumn 2010 and finish in 2014. In March 2010 the Museum received a Round 2 Pass for the project from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a grant for £813,000. The total cost of the project is £7M and since launching the 'Opening up the Soane' appeal in June 2008 almost £5M has been raised to date (April 2010). While the Museum is seeking major support to help pay for the structural work required, there are many smaller items that require repair and restoration eg picture frames, carpets, chairs, architectural models, wallpapers, conservation equipment etc. Gifts from £100 upwards are needed to pay for the hundreds of small items that need attention before they can be finally shown again to the public as Soane always intended. For images and further details do visit our Opening up the Soane web pages at: http://www.soane.org/opening-up.html