Architects invited to submit plans for £6m visitor centre

The winning design will replace the entrance to the award-winning Beamish Museum, in County Durham, which celebrates the region's coal-mining heritage.

It will be bigger than the current one and means visitors will be able to see more of Beamish's collections, such as miners' banners, quilts and turn-of-the-century trans-port.

It is hoped the centre will enhance the education programme and help local businesses by providing meeting space, as well as a restaurant and museum shop.

Museum director Miriam Harte said: "We are keeping an open mind and it could be something traditional or it could be something more modern.

"The current centre does not reflect the quality of what the visitors are going to see and does not explain what Beamish is all about.

"We have vast collections that are unseen because we have no display space and we want to broaden, deepen and enhance the experience for our visitors."

A competition was launched yesterday by the museum and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Miss Harte said: "The RIBA competition for architects is a platform from which to launch our exciting growth plans at Beamish.

"The landmark visitor centre will be the first in a number of important developments that will rightly position Beamish as a world-class museum."

Beamish's vivid examples of life in the North of England in the 1800s and 1900s have captured the imagination of visitors for decades.

The plan is to enrich existing areas of the museum with new displays and create new attractions to broaden visitors' enjoyment.

They will bring new living history recreations to period areas such as the Colliery Village, which has been central to Beamish's popularity for many years.

A 1913 Lamp Cabin is being built to display the museum's remarkable collection of miners' lamps, and illustrate the daily routine of miners a century ago.

The developments are part of a £40m project to develop the museum over the next decade.