The LWL Natural History Museum in Münster with its adjoining planetarium is well known beyond the region. Somewhat outdated - the existing building dates back to the early 1980s - it is now being renovated, converted and extended. In addition to the infrastructural modernization, new office space, an atrium and a visitor center are being created. The predominant materials for the sustainable extension are wood and glass. The bright and light-flooded extension expands the museum for communicative uses, but does not push the striking existing brick building into the background.

Until now, the museum has lacked a place where private and professional experts can meet and exchange ideas. The museum's remit has changed considerably since it opened in 1892 and especially since the new building was occupied in 1982, as have the needs of visitors and the many volunteer researchers associated with the museum. The new building is intended to make the museum even more of a place for scientific exchange and a place of discussion and education for volunteer researchers, professional scientists and interested laypeople alike. The new conference area in the extension for up to 300 people, the so-called 'Forum for Natural Sciences', is intended to complement the other very successful and nationally acclaimed areas of the museum, the exhibition area and the planetarium, and to network with the museum to create a unique place of science.

The new extension is not the only thing being built. The LWL Museum will be brought into line with the modernity of the planetarium, which is one of the most modern in the world. The first steps for this construction project have already been initiated, such as the revision of the lighting installations, the removal of the ceiling and the installation of a construction wall to the old foyer. Both the museum and the planetarium will remain open during the construction work.

Another construction site will not be visible to museum visitors because it is taking place behind the scenes: the administration of the LWL Museum is being renovated. Measures to maintain the 40-year-old building were urgently needed. This includes, for example, parts of the technical infrastructure, necessary “building permit upgrades” such as the safety equipment and the remediation of harmful substances in the building components.