Imperial Institute

The Imperial Institute was founded in 1887 'as a monument to the emerging imperial sentiment'. It acted partly as an educational instrument, with extensive gallery spaces promoting the Commonwealth, but was also an important research base for the Empire, exploring the potential for industrial commercial operations in the Dominions and Colonies. The Institute was sited in a building in South Kensington, London, and was purpose-designed by Thomas Colcutt (1840-1924) in a similar style to the other major museums of the area. One wing of the Institute was sold to London University in 1899. The administration of the Institute changed frequently throughout its history, coming under the remit of the Board of Trade in 1903 (following the 1902 Imperial Institute (Transfer) Act), the Department of Overseas Trade in 1925 and the Ministry of Education in 1949.

The building of the Institute was destroyed between 1957 and 1965, after the closure of the Institute in the mid 1950s. The rear galleries were demolished in 1957, the east galleries in 1962 and the west wing in 1965. The only remaining part of the original structure is the Colcutt Tower (now the Queen's Tower), which was saved from demolition and became free-standing in 1968. This now forms part of the site of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, which was expanded on a large scale during the 1950s. Following the Commonwealth Institute Act in 1958, the Commonwealth Institute was established to continue the work of the Imperial Institute, with the new building opened on a new site on Kensington High Street in November 1962. Since the closure of the exhibition galleries in the late 1990s, many of the Institute's artefacts have been transferred to the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol.