About
Imperial War Museum North, situated on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Trafford, is one of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. Opened in July 2002, the museum explores how war has shaped lives and society from the First World War to the present day, focusing not only on military history but also on the profound impact of conflict on ordinary people at home and abroad.
The building itself is an architectural masterpiece and a powerful symbol of war's destructive and fragmenting effects on the world. Libeskind conceived the structure as a globe shattered into three interlocking shards representing conflict on land, sea, and air: the Earth Shard (main exhibition space), Water Shard (restaurant and viewing platform), and Air Shard (education spaces). Clad in aluminum and featuring dramatic angular walls and sloping floors, the 55-metre tall Air Shard has become an iconic landmark on Salford's regenerated quays. The building won the 2003 RIBA Inclusive Design Award for its innovative accessibility features.
The museum's collections comprise over 2,000 objects including tanks, aircraft, artillery, small arms, uniforms, medals, artworks, posters, and personal items donated by veterans and their families. Unlike traditional war museums focused on victories and battles, IWM North emphasizes individual experiences and the human cost of conflict through powerful audio-visual presentations, immersive exhibitions, and contemporary testimonies. The Main Exhibition Space features the acclaimed Big Picture Show - a 360-degree audio-visual presentation projected across the walls and floor every hour, creating an overwhelming sensory experience that brings wartime stories to life.
With free admission, innovative temporary exhibitions on contemporary conflicts and themes, and an extensive learning program, IWM North attracts 370,000 visitors annually. The museum challenges visitors to explore how war continues to shape our world and consider their own responses to conflict, making it one of the UK's most thought-provoking cultural institutions.
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Annual Visitors (2019)
370,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Weekday mornings (10:00-12:00) for quietest experience before school groups arrive
💡 Visitor Tips
- Plan your visit around the Big Picture Show schedule - three different shows run hourly 10:30-16:30. Each show is 15 minutes and transforms the entire main gallery into an immersive cinema experience. Check daily schedule at entrance.
- Allow at least 2-3 hours to explore properly, or a full morning/afternoon if attending special exhibitions and watching multiple Big Picture Shows. The sloping floors and dramatic architecture can be tiring, so pace yourself.
- The museum can be overwhelming due to loud audio, dramatic lighting, and emotionally challenging content about war's impact. Take breaks in the quieter TimeStack areas or step outside to the canal-side picnic area with views.
- Free on-site parking is available but can fill quickly on weekends, school holidays, and when Manchester United play at nearby Old Trafford. Arrive before 11:00 or use Metrolink from MediaCityUK tram stop (7-minute walk).
- The Water Shard café on the upper level offers hot meals, sandwiches, and drinks with spectacular panoramic views across Manchester's docklands and towards the city center. Outdoor picnic area also available.
- Photography is allowed throughout the museum without flash - the dramatic architecture and suspended aircraft make stunning photos. The sloping floors and angular walls create unique perspectives.
- School groups visit regularly on weekday mornings (10:00-13:00). For a quieter, more contemplative experience, visit on weekday afternoons or early on weekends before 12:00.
- The building's innovative accessibility features include wheelchair access to all levels, sloping floors instead of steps, hearing loops, and changing places toilet. Staff are trained to assist visitors with mobility or sensory needs.
Highlights
Daniel Libeskind Building
The museum building itself is the first highlight - an architectural tour de force by Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind, internationally renowned for his work on the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Ground Zero master plan in New York.
Libeskind conceived the structure as representing a world shattered by conflict, fragmenting a globe into three interlocking shards that lean at dramatic angles. The 55-metre tall Air Shard, clad in aluminum panels, dominates the Salford Quays skyline and is visible for miles.
Inside, the spaces feature sloping floors, curved walls, and unexpected angles that disorient visitors and evoke the chaos and disruption of war. The Earth Shard houses the main exhibition space with its vast column-free interior. The Water Shard contains the viewing platform restaurant with panoramic views across Manchester.
The building won the 2003 RIBA Inclusive Design Award for innovative accessibility features.
Libeskind described his design as creating 'a building that... speaks of a human tragedy and human triumph.
Big Picture Show
The museum's most powerful and immersive experience, the Big Picture Show is a 360-degree audio-visual presentation that transforms the entire Main Exhibition Space into a cinema.
Every hour from 10:30 to 16:30, lights dim and dramatic images and sound are projected simultaneously across the walls and floor from 48 projectors and 178 speakers, completely surrounding visitors with sights and sounds of war. Three different 15-minute shows rotate throughout the day: Children and War (exploring children's experiences), Weapons of War (examining technological development of warfare), and Trench Life (immersing visitors in First World War trenches).
Archival footage, photographs, personal testimonies, and soundscapes combine to create an overwhelming sensory experience that brings history viscerally to life. Visitors can sit, stand, or lie on the floor to watch.
The show uses the same technology as IMAX cinemas and represents one of the most innovative museum interpretation techniques in the world.
Each show offers profound emotional impact and new perspectives on familiar historical events.
Harrier Jump Jet
A British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA2 jet fighter suspended dramatically from the ceiling of the Main Exhibition Space, representing the Air Shard element of Libeskind's conceptual design. The Harrier revolutionized military aviation as the world's first successful vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) jet fighter, serving the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1969 to 2011.
This particular aircraft, XZ457, saw active service during the 1982 Falklands War where Harriers proved decisive in air combat despite being outnumbered, shooting down 20 Argentine aircraft without loss.
The jet's distinctive hovering capability allowed it to operate from small aircraft carriers and improvised forward bases, changing military strategy. Suspended at a dramatic angle above visitors' heads, the Harrier appears to be in flight, its presence creating a striking visual impact. Information panels explore the aircraft's development, combat record, and the experiences of pilots who flew these demanding machines in combat conditions.
T-34 Soviet Tank
A Soviet T-34/85 medium tank, one of the most influential military vehicles ever designed and a key weapon in the defeat of Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The T-34 revolutionized tank design with its combination of firepower, mobility, armor protection, and ease of mass production - appearing in greater numbers than any other tank in history with over 84,000 built between 1940 and 1958.
Its sloped armor provided superior protection, wide tracks gave excellent mobility in mud and snow, and the powerful 85mm gun could destroy German Tigers and Panthers.
German tank commanders called it the finest tank in the world. This example represents the Earth Shard element of the building concept. The tank's massive presence dominates the gallery floor, and visitors can walk around it to appreciate its revolutionary design.
Interpretation panels explain how the T-34's technical superiority and mass production capacity overwhelmed German forces, contributing decisively to Allied victory.
Collections
Imperial War Museum North draws on the Imperial War Museums' national collection of over 10 million items, one of the world's most comprehensive archives relating to modern conflict. The museum displays approximately 2,000 objects at any time from this vast collection, with regular rotation to explore different themes.
Collections span military equipment (tanks, aircraft, artillery, small arms, uniforms, insignia, medals), artworks by official war artists including Paul Nash and John Singer Sargent, over 11 million photographs documenting conflicts from 1914 onwards, film and sound archives including battlefield footage and oral histories from thousands of veterans and civilians, personal items donated by service personnel and their families (letters, diaries, trench art), and extensive documentary archives.
Unlike traditional military museums focused on British victories, IWM North emphasizes how conflict impacts ordinary people, presents multiple perspectives including those of former enemies and civilians, explores difficult topics like war crimes and trauma, and connects historical conflicts to contemporary issues.
The collections document British and Commonwealth involvement in all major 20th and 21st-century conflicts: both World Wars, Korea, Suez, Northern Ireland, Falklands, Gulf Wars, Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Main Exhibition Space
The museum's vast 2,000 square metre column-free main gallery, housed within Libeskind's dramatic Earth Shard.
Rather than following a chronological or military-campaign structure, the space uses a thematic approach organized around six themed 'silos' exploring different aspects of conflict: Experience of War, Women at War, Legacies of War, Science and War, War and Society, and Children and War. Major artifacts including the suspended Harrier jump jet, T-34 Soviet tank, Royal Artillery field gun, and military vehicles create dramatic focal points.
The sloping floor and curved walls create a disorienting effect that evokes the chaos of war. Throughout the space, video screens show first-person testimonies, touch-screen kiosks provide deeper information, and object displays combine military hardware with personal items to humanize history. The Big Picture Show transforms the entire space hourly into an immersive audio-visual experience.
Interpretation challenges visitors to think critically about war's causes, conduct, and consequences rather than simply celebrating military achievement.
📍 Ground Floor Earth Shard
TimeStack
An innovative vertical display system unique to IWM North, the TimeStack comprises thousands of objects arranged chronologically in transparent drawers stacked floor to ceiling in two towers. Visitors can open drawers to discover artifacts from specific years and conflicts - medals, weapons, photographs, uniforms, documents, personal items.
The system allows exploration of how warfare, technology, and society evolved decade by decade from 1914 to the present.
Each drawer contains 3-5 related objects with brief labels. The TimeStack embodies IWM North's approach of giving visitors agency to explore topics that interest them rather than imposing a fixed narrative. It's particularly popular with repeat visitors who discover new objects on each visit.
The transparent drawers create a striking visual effect, revealing glimpses of countless stories literally stacked through time. Digital screens at each TimeStack provide context for the periods covered and highlight significant objects within the collection.
📍 Main Exhibition Space
Special Exhibition Gallery
A dedicated 400 square metre temporary exhibition space hosting major touring exhibitions and original shows developed by IWM curators. Exhibitions typically run 4-6 months and explore specific conflicts, themes, or contemporary issues in greater depth than possible in the permanent galleries. Recent exhibitions have examined the Holocaust, Afghanistan conflict, Secret War (intelligence and espionage), war photography, military medicine, and refugees.
The gallery allows IWM North to respond to current events, commemorate anniversaries, showcase new acquisitions, and partner with other institutions.
Special exhibitions often feature objects rarely displayed, immersive installations, contemporary artworks, and first-person testimonies. Some exhibitions attract additional admission charges.
The space features flexible lighting, climate control for sensitive objects, and accessible design. Check the museum website for current and upcoming exhibitions - many warrant repeat visits even for museum members.
📍 Mezzanine Level
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.