Detailed plans have been released for a £2.5 million museum re-development.

The Epping Forest District Museum in Waltham Abbey has been closed to the public for the last year for a re-development and refurbishment which will see completely a completely new design and expanded exhibition capabilities.

Design company Outside Studios and architects Hawkins/Brown have been working with the museum team on the project, which has been funded by a Heritage Lottery grant.

The project aims to bring together the majority of the museum’s collections under one roof, and the new Explore gallery will house reserve collections.

A “community and education” room will also be created, as well as an exhibition gallery for temporary events.

There are plans to convert the oldest part of the museum, a Grade II* listed Tudor house, into an exhibit in itself.

Francesca Pellegrino, audience development officer for the museum, said that momentum was building and museum staff had been busy during the closure.

She said: “We are all very excited to see the building work begin and it has been great to get a visual idea of how the museum might look after the project is completed.

“There is still a great deal of work going on behind the scenes with volunteers and staff working with the collection and on a number of events and projects that are taking place out in the community.”

The museum has been arranging a number of touring exhibitions, including The Cold War: 1945-1989, which used objects from North Weald airfield and Kelvedon Hatch nuclear bunker to tell local stories from the Cold War.

For more information about the refurbishment, visit the museum’s blog.