Following the recent discovery of Roman ruins in the City of London, more details have been revealed about the plans for a new museum of Roman London’s history.

The remains, which are thought to be part of what we might call London’s first “city hall”, were uncovered during excavations by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) before a skyscraper was built on the site.

Since their discovery, the property developer has been reworking their plans to include a new museum in the basement, and the details have now been submitted to the City of London for approval.

The previously approved plans were for a tower to be built above a double-height public hall, providing a new route into the neighbouring Leadenhall Market.

A viewing terrace on the 5th floor would be accompanied by a large indoor area to be used for heritage and culture.

The discovery of the Roman ruins has meant a fairly significant change to office development, and while it generally looks the same outside, it’s been substantially changed internally. Turning the basement into a museum means it can’t be used for facilities and cycle parking, so most of that had to be moved to a street-level part of the building.

They are also having to change the size of the concrete core that supports the tower, reducing the number of lifts they can fit into the building. Thus, the tower will be slightly shorter than originally planned.

The new scheme will concentrate the offices from the 5th floor upwards. The 5th floor viewing terrace will remain and will give people a chance to look out over Leadenhall Market’s roof.

However, the main change is in the basement, where they want to create the public museum.

Access to the basement will be via lifts or stairs inside the new public hall space and then down one floor to the new museum reception area.

The planning application says that the basement level exhibition space could include an immersive display of the remains of the First Roman London Basilica and its place in the history of Roman London, as well as the opportunity for an education space that schools and groups could book.

The Roman ruins are one floor down, but to conserve them, a glass floor will be installed above the ruins, and then people can walk above them on the same level as the rest of the museum.

The exhibition and display spaces are intended to be curated in partnership with London Museum and a long corridor in the basement could be used to display artefacts from the site.

The museum will be free to visit, and although the area is already busy, having a museum in the basement will do wonders for the cafes and restaurants that are intended to occupy the ground-floor public hall.

The amended plans are now with the City of London to decide if they approve them.