A Look Behind the Scenes at a Museum Store

Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, usually called GMRC, is where Glasgow Life keeps most of the objects from its museums when they are not on display. It isn't a gallery you can wander around on your own. Visits are guided tours of the storage areas, and you'll need to book one in advance. The centre is at 200 Woodhead Road, South Nitshill Industrial Estate, G53 7NN.

The numbers give you an idea of what's inside. The centre holds around 1.4 million objects in 17 custom-built storage pods with environmental control, sorted by object type and material. Only about 2% of the collections are on display at any one time, so the tours are a chance to see what usually stays out of sight. The Natural History collection is the biggest, with more than 580,000 objects, and it includes pods for taxidermy, osteological collections, geology, entomology and botany. There are also around 42,000 books and a collection of vintage washing machines and fridges. The paintings stored here include works by Botticelli, Raeburn and Howson.

The main tour is the Behind the Scenes Tour, which runs every Wednesday until 23 December 2026 and every Monday until 21 December 2026. Specialist Tours run fortnightly on Tuesdays at 15:30. On Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 15:30 there is a Black History Month tour on the Aubrey Williams centenary, focused on two of his key paintings. Williams was a Guyanese painter who arrived in London in 1952 as part of the Windrush generation. There is also an Autism Friendly Adult Tour on Fridays until 11 December 2026. All tours are free, although donations are accepted. Schools, nurseries and colleges can book workshops that include a visit to the stores.

Getting there is straightforward on foot from Nitshill train station. Go along Nitshill Road, under the bridge towards Wiltonburn Road, then follow Woodhead Road. Bus stop 57 is nearby. There is free parking on site, including five accessible spaces. Inside, lifts give wheelchair access to all public areas, and there are accessible toilets about 14 metres from the main entrance on the ground floor. The centre also has a hearing loop, a baby changing room near reception, free changing facilities and free Wi-Fi. Assistance dogs are welcome, and AccessAble has an accessibility guide for the venue. The centre holds the Silver Award from VisitScotland's Green Tourism scheme.

The centre is also a working base for Glasgow Life's conservation work. It hosts the Open Museum handling kit loan service and travelling displays, and it stores and conserves collections for Kelvingrove, the Burrell Collection, Riverside Museum, GoMA, St Mungo's and Provand's Lordship Museum. The frames conservator worked on The Dunlop Family Portrait, which is now on display at Kelvingrove. The image Rockface, 1964 by Aubrey Williams was donated by the Estate of Aubrey Williams in 2019.

Opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 10:00 to 15:00 and Friday from 11:00 to 17:00. The centre is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. To book, call 0141 276 9300 or email glmuseumsadminbookingshub@glasgowlife.org.uk.