Although fears of visiting the Middle East have always caused many travelers to postpone leisure or business trips to that region, the recent opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, is changing that thinking.

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) alone is expected to draw as many as seven million additional visitors to the site, helping to boost total visitors to around 30 million by 2030.

© Grand Egyptian Museum

Design firm Heneghan Peng Architects is now celebrating the official completion of its design of the GEM, which opened to visitors in early November 2025. The $1 billion, 120-acre complex is located about one mile away from the Pyramids of Giza, and  is a testament to the longevity and scale of ancient Egyptian civilization and its enduring influences.

Designed to house a total of 100,000 artifacts, the GEM is the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization. The full completion was marked by the opening of the Tutankhamen gallery, which displays more than 5,000 artifacts to the public for the first time.

© Ivan Baan

The museum was designed in direct relation to the positioning of the pyramids, bridging the gap between history and modernity. The architects were awarded the project in 2003 after the Egyptian Ministry of Culture launched one of the largest architectural competitions in the world.

“Designing a museum of this caliber and size, in such close proximity to a landmark as monumental as the pyramids, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Róisín Heneghan, founding partner, Heneghan Peng Architects. “Our design works to strengthen that connection to history and place, providing a home for some never-before-seen artifacts that rests upon the very land from which they were created.”

Located on a desert plateau formed by the Nile River thousands of years ago, the museum’s geological setting was integral to the design. Beginning at a focal point outside of the entrance, the museum’s structure radiates outward toward the pyramids along a visual axis that aligns directly with the positioning of the three pyramids. The interior walls follow these lines to create a fanning shape, with the roof sloping upward along a similar visual line to meet the highest point of the pyramids but never surpassing them. This direct dialogue between the museum and the pyramids that makes the pyramids feel like a part of the museum itself.

© Grand Egyptian Museum

The Permanent Exhibition gallery points directly toward the tallest pyramid, and a grand six-story staircase serves as a chronological route to guide visitors through the different galleries, beginning with the Predynastic Period and traveling through the Coptic Era.

Developed with master planning and museological advisory services from Cultural Innovations and Metaphor, the permanent exhibitions, including the new Tutankhamen Gallery, are placed at the top of the staircase, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves in each period before completing the experience with the iconic view of the pyramids.

Many of the largest and heaviest artifacts, including the 10 statues of King Senusret I, are also placed upon the staircase at varying levels.

© Grand Egyptian Museum

While natural lighting is typically minimized in museums for conservation reasons, many of the artifacts are stone, creating a unique opportunity to introduce natural lighting wherever possible, particularly in the museum’s main spaces.

The site also includes extensive gardens that provide public green space for the local community. Developed in collaboration with the firm West 8, the Thematic Gardens, Welcome Plaza and Grand Hall represent the juxtaposition of the surrounding landscape, resorting back to the beginnings of Egyptian civilization in the lush Nile valley. The broad, greened forecourt, dotted with date palms, was designed to tell the story of the Nile floodplain that once allowed the stones for the pyramids to be transported by ship. This open area reveals the museum in its full 2,624-foot length, and houses 12 acres of outdoor exhibition space.

© Georges and Samuel Mohsen / The GS Studio

In addition to the public-facing galleries, the museum was able to conserve and prepare so many artifacts for display. The conservation center, laboratories and storage facilities are connected to the main building via a tunnel, with 17 different labs dedicated to preserving the museum’s priceless artifacts. Given the diversity of materials that make up the collection, the museum’s design caters to artifacts ranging from papyrus and textiles to pottery, sculptures to human remains, which all require unique measures.