Shortlisted for Museum To Honor Jesus Christ's Baptism At Bethany, Jordan

August 2025

Níall McLaughlin Architects is 1 of 7 practices shortlisted for the Malcolm Reading Consultants managed competition. Due to open in 2030 to mark the bimillennial of Christ’s baptism, the new museum is expected to be a globally significant spiritual and cultural landmark. The project is endorsed by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and is led by the Foundation for the Development of the Lands Adjacent to the Baptism Site (the Foundation).

Dr Tharwat Al Masalha, Chair of the Jordan Foundation’s Board, said:

‘This project is one of the most significant cultural commissions in Jordan’s recent history. It reflects a national ambition to enrich the experience of visiting the Baptism Site for pilgrims, scholars, visitors and tourists alike.

‘The museum will honor the site’s spiritual value and importance, while also expressing Jordan’s enduring history as part of the Holy Land and its commitment to peace and plurality.

‘Confirming the shortlist brings us closer to creating a museum at one of the most sacred and spiritually resonant sites in the region.

‘We congratulate the finalist teams and look forward to seeing their design concepts in the Fall.’

More information is available on the Malcolm Reading website here.

UK’s Best Modern Church Award

November 2013

The Bishop Edward King Chapel was among the winners of the ‘The UK’s Best Modern Churches’ competition which celebrates the best churches built within the last 50 years, announced at a ceremony held at Lambeth Palace in London. The open competition was run by the National Churches Trust, in association with the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association and the 20th Century Society.

Of the top ten selected winners, the Chapel for Ripon College was the most recent nomination, with eight of the ten built in the late 50s and early 60s. The scheme was described as “a treat to look at” and “architecturally elegant, with a lovely intimate reflective interior.”

Link to Best Modern Churches