It is proving to be quite some day for stories on philanthropy. Terence Conran is, as I write, in Downing Street discussing a huge gift to help the Design Museum move six miles west in London.
Conran, who will turn 80 in October, is giving a cash gift of £7.5m as well as the proceeds of selling the lease he owns on the current museum building - expected to be in the region of £10m.
The Design Museum is in a lovely spot on the Thames, near Tower Bridge, but most people agree that the former banana warehouse is too small a building. It wants to take over the unoccupied Commonwealth Institute in Kensington, giving it three times as much space.
The total cost of the scheme is £77m so Conran's gift is clearly a majr step forward.
Deyan Sudjic, director of the design museum, said this:
"Terence Conran has transformed Britain. His contribution to the way we live, eat, and shop over six decades has been enormous. The gift to the Design Museum is a hugely generous investment in the future. By making our ambition to move to the former Commonwealth Institute much more achievable, he makes possible a project that will give the museum three times as much space as it has now. The new Design Museum will be the definitive voice of contemporary design, reinforcing Britain's place as one of the world's leading creative economies."
Conran himself said:
"Moving to the Commonwealth Institute will allow all our dreams and ambitions for the Design Museum to come true, to create a world class space with the size and scope for the serious promotion and celebration of design and architecture in this country. I am also uplifted by the support we are receiving from Government, who recognise the enormous contribution the creative industries make to the economy and the quality of life of ordinary people. Design, manufacturing and business are completely interlinked and one cannot succeed without the other."
The Design Museum is still actively fundraising, about £23m short of its overall target. It already has in the bag a major contribution from the residential developer of the site and a first round pass for possible money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Moving to the Commonwealth Institute, a distinctive building with its green parabolic roof and turquoise glass walls, will allow the museum to get more of its permanent collection out from storage.
The culture secrtary Jeremy Hunt said this:
"Sir Terence Conran has already made a remarkable contribution to the history of design. Through his Habitat and Conran stores, restaurants, books and the Design Museum he has had an extraordinary influence on the way we live and the way we view design. Sir Terence's exceptionally generous gift to the Design Museum will not only help this excellent cultural institution move to a new home, but will also help showcase Britain's ability to produce some of the world's greatest designers and influence design on a global scale."
