Imperial War Museums has launched a procurement exercise for the IWM exhibition design framework covering the period 2027 to 2030, seeking to establish a multi-supplier arrangement for 3D exhibition design services across its museum sites.
The framework is structured to give IWM access to high-quality, reliable and cost-effective 3D exhibition design services, according to Tenders One. A multi-supplier model means IWM will appoint more than one practice to the framework, allowing the organisation to call off design services from a roster of pre-qualified firms rather than running individual competitions for each project over the three-year term.
Contract term and estimated value of the IWM exhibition design framework
According to Tenderbase, the contract runs from 1 February 2027 to 31 January 2030, giving appointed suppliers a defined three-year window. The estimated value of the framework is £250,000, as listed on Thornton and Lowe Bid Software. For a framework of this kind, that figure represents the anticipated total spend across all call-offs during the period rather than a guaranteed contract sum for any individual supplier.
The relatively modest total value reflects the nature of framework procurement: IWM retains flexibility to commission exhibition design work at scale or in smaller packages, with pre-agreed terms already in place with each appointed practice. Practices bidding for a place should factor in that individual commissions called off under a £250,000 framework are likely to be modest in fee terms, even if the exhibition content they serve carries far greater capital or cultural weight.
Evaluation criteria: quality weighted at 60 per cent
The evaluation methodology gives quality the dominant weighting. According to the Architects’ Journal, tenders will be assessed 60 per cent on quality, 30 per cent on cost and 10 per cent on social value. That split is a meaningful signal to bidders: a practice that competes on price alone cannot win on arithmetic. The quality submission carries twice the combined weight of cost and social value, suggesting IWM is prioritising demonstrable design capability and relevant exhibition experience over the lowest fee rate.
The 10 per cent social value weighting aligns with the direction of public sector procurement more broadly, where commissioning bodies are increasingly required to articulate and score the wider community and economic benefit a supplier brings. For design practices, this typically means evidencing local supply chains, employment and training commitments, or community engagement programmes.
From an embodied and operational carbon perspective, exhibition fit-outs sit in a category that is often overlooked in whole-life carbon assessments. Temporary and semi-permanent displays involve significant material turnover: joinery, graphics substrates, lighting rigs and AV infrastructure can all carry material carbon costs that accumulate across a framework period. Practices with robust lifecycle thinking, material specification skills and low-carbon detailing experience may find the quality criteria offer room to differentiate, particularly where IWM’s brief addresses reuse, demountability or circular economy principles in its exhibition fitout standards.
IWM operates multiple sites, and a framework approach means appointed designers must be capable of working across different spatial and heritage contexts. Exhibition design in a listed or heritage-sensitive environment carries distinct constraints around fixings, humidity control and reversibility that sit alongside the more conventional design brief. Bidders with documented experience of working in such settings, and with an ability to specify materials that minimise embodied carbon without compromising conservation requirements, are well-placed to score strongly under a quality-led evaluation.
Practices interested in the IWM exhibition design framework should review the full tender documents for submission deadlines, pre-qualification requirements and the detailed quality questions before preparing their response to the 2027-30 procurement.
