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Wilkinson Eyre’s £15 million SeaCity Museum in Southampton opens this week, exactly 100 years after the Titanic set sail from the city.

The museum examines the effect the disaster had on the city as well as exploring Southampton’s broader maritime heritage.

The project involved refurbishing and extending an existing grade II* listed magistrates court, including courtrooms and cell block, to create 2,000sq m of exhibition and learning space.

Wilkinson Eyre also added a pavilion on the north facade to signal the museum’s presence. Its three interlocking bays rise in parallel with the irregular ground level and correspond to surrounding buildings.

The court is part of the city’s civic centre complex which was designed by E Berry Webber and is considered one of the most important 1930s buildings of its type in the south of England. The work was carried out in consultation with English Heritage.

Gass and reconstituted stone were the main materials used.

A triple-height light well was formed by enclosing what had been a prisoners’ exercise yard.

Anna Woodeson, associate at Wilkinson Eyre, said: “We are delighted with the finished museum, which brings a new lease of life to a very important building in Southampton, whilst also announcing the arrival of a new cultural attraction with the addition of the pavilion.”

Wilkinson Eyre also designed the landscaping that surrounds the museum, creating green areas and a new grey granite pedestrian path that connects the SeaCity Museum to the city centre.