The Foundation for the Development of the Lands Adjacent to the Baptism Site (the Foundation) announced today that the multi-disciplinary team led by Níall McLaughlin Architects (NMLA) has won the international competition for a new museum at Bethany, Jordan.
The announcement concludes the six-month invited competition to find an outstanding architect-led team to deliver a design for an exemplary new museum dedicated to the history and significance of baptism in the Christian tradition. The competition, run by Malcolm Reading Consultants, brought together a shortlist of seven international studios and an Advisory Panel of thought leaders in architecture, landscape, museums and heritage.
Níall McLaughlin Architects’ winning concept impressed the Foundation and the Advisory Panel with its flair for multi-layered and immersive storytelling that focuses on communicating baptism’s power to offer spiritual renewal and new life. In scale and form, the proposal answered the brief’s call for a museum that ‘evokes wonder and humility in the visitor and responds sensitively to the site’.
The concept presents the new museum as an east-west journey anchored by an allegorical sequence – visitors will descend into the earth from an arid wilderness garden, then encounter a rift filled with water to symbolize the Jordan River, and re-emerge into the light and a fruitful paradise garden. Accordingly, the eastern entrance and western exit will face each other across a public square. Between them, an open stepped landscape will rise onto the roof where visitors can view the valley of the Jordan River and the pilgrimage route to the Baptism Site.
NMLA paid close attention to Jordan’s vernacular architecture, using locally sourced stone and rammed earth techniques to create the museum’s form, which sits low within the landscape showing sensitivity to its surroundings and the adjacent UNESCO site. Their landscape strategy – led by Kim Wilkie Landscape – allows the wilderness to gently embrace the museum and fills walled gardens with scented native species. The exhibition design – developed by Nissen Richards Studio – uses variation in light, sound and material to create an absorbing immersive atmosphere that expresses the museum’s narrative arc of ‘wilderness, water and witness’. The team also includes local consultant, Engicon.
Dr Tharwat Almasalha, Chair of the competition’s Advisory Panel and Chair of the Foundation’s Board, said:
‘We congratulate Níall McLaughlin’s team on their proposal which excels in telling the story of baptism – highlighting its power to offer spiritual renewal and new life.
‘We look forward to celebrating the bimillennial of Christ’s baptism in 2030 with the opening of the new museum which promises to be an inspiration for Jordan, faith communities, and secular visitors worldwide.
‘This proposal responds sensitively to the luminous setting in the wilderness and the adjacent UNESCO site. Though modest in size and form, the design has exceptional resonance: it will be attuned to human and divine connections.
‘Together with the NMLA-led team we’re determined to create a museum that will be a global exemplar and acclaimed as a universal symbol of peace.’
Níall McLaughlin MBE, Principal of Níall McLaughlin Architects, Kim Wilkie CBE, Founder of Kim Wilkie Landscape, and Pippa Nissen, Director and Founder of Nissen Richards Studios, responded:
‘We are delighted to receive the news that we are the winners of the competition for the Museum of Jesus’ Baptism at Bethany, Jordan. It is an extraordinary site with a profound history. The brief was beautifully written, and the shortlist was exceptionally strong. We felt honored to be chosen to participate with such an interesting group.
‘The challenge of the design was to find a way to allow the architecture to mediate between a charged landscape and the sacred narratives that arose within it. It demanded a building that could work with allegory. At the same time, the project needed to use local labor, skills, and resources to achieve something with a sense of social responsibility and low carbon expenditure.
‘We now look forward to working with the Foundation to develop the design in dialogue with enthusiastic local and international experts. We relish the opportunity to learn more about this beautiful country.’
The Foundation will now work closely with NMLA to advance their design in coordination with UNESCO and in partnership with local communities and other stakeholders.
Due to open in 2030 to mark the bimillennial of Christ’s baptism, the museum will be a globally significant spiritual and cultural landmark, deepening the experience of visiting the Baptism Site, located on the east bank of the Jordan River. The site (Al-Maghtas, “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”) is widely accepted as the place where John baptized Jesus and has been a Christian pilgrimage destination for centuries.
Malcolm Reading LVO Hon FRGS, Competition Director, MRC, said:
‘We are grateful to all the shortlisted teams for their hard work and their creativity.
‘We searched globally for the best talent for this commission and the NMLA team rose to the varied challenges of this project and site and related strongly to the sensibilities underpinning the project vision.
‘The new museum promises to be highly sensory and memorable. We believe it will resonate with visitors long after they return home. Yet the scheme is also pragmatic and considered in how it responds to the realities of the budget and local resources.’
Competition Background
The seven international teams shortlisted in the competition were announced in August 2025, and led by the following firms: AAU Anastas (Palestine / France / Jordan); heneghan peng architects (Ireland); Níall McLaughlin Architects (UK); Studio Anne Holtrop (Bahrain / Netherlands); Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO (Mexico); Toshiko Mori Architect (US); and Trahan Architects (US). The shortlist’s concept proposals were revealed via an online gallery in October 2025.
An Advisory Panel made up of esteemed thought leaders across the fields of architecture, landscape, museums and heritage met in Fall 2025 to interview the finalists and made a recommendation to the Foundation’s Board. The Advisory Panel comprised the following members:
Dr Tharwat Almasalha (Panel Chair)
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Foundation for the Development of the Lands Adjacent to the Baptism Site
Professor Barry Bergdoll
Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History, Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, US
Mr David B. Greenbaum, FAIA, LEED AP
Director of Culture and Museums, Gensler
Princess Alia Al-Senussi, PhD
Senior Advisor, KSA’s Ministry of Culture and Art Basel; Visiting Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar; Chairman, K11 Art Foundation International Council
Mr Ousama Gabi Ghannoum
Member of the BDZ Board of Trustees and Member of the Museum Committee
Professor Mónica Luengo
Art Historian, Landscape Architect and Heritage Consultant; Member of Honor of the International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes ICOMOS-IFLA
Dr Leen A. Fakhoury
Heritage expert and Architect; Industrial Professor – German Jordan University (GJU)
Mr Aziz Husein
Global Lead, Built Environment, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (Aga Khan Foundation)
About the winning team
Níall McLaughlin Architects’ work is globally admired for its inventive use of building materials and qualities of light, and its strong emphasis on thoughtful, innovative and well-crafted architecture that prioritizes the relationship between the building and its surroundings.
The practice’s notable projects include the restoration and extension of 900-year-old Auckland Castle to accommodate a Faith Museum, as well as Auckland Tower, the Bishop Edward King Chapel, and the New Library for Magdalene College, Cambridge (all UK). Among NMLA’s major awards are the RIBA Stirling Prize (2022); multiple nominations for the Mies Van Der Rohe Award; and numerous RIBA and American Institute of Architecture Awards.
Founder Níall McLaughlin received the RIBA Gold Medal in January 2026 and was awarded an Honorary MBE for Services to Architecture in 2020.
The NMLA team is supported by Engicon (Local Consultant); Kim Wilkie Landscape (Landscape Architecture); Nissen Richards Studio (Exhibition Design & Wayfinding); Studio ZNA (Lighting Design); and Arup (Daylight & Shadow Studies).
Kim Wilkie CBE – NMLA’s landscape design consultant – has led a distinguished career of over 25 years. His work responds to the layered narratives of landscape, always seeking a balance between cultural continuity and natural evolution. Wilkie’s notable projects include a contemplative cloistered garden for the V&A Museum in London, a revival of the Oxford Botanic Garden (UK) and an area of Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania (US).
Nissen Richards Studio is a triple RIBA National Award-winning architects’ practice and exhibition design studio, founded in 2010. Director and Founder Pippa Nissen has worked on a range of theatrical, museum and gallery projects for world-renowned institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, and the Courtauld Gallery in London.
Project Background
Christ’s baptism was one of the few Gospel events witnessed by the Holy Trinity. As described in the New Testament, Jesus came to Bethany Beyond the Jordan to be baptized by John; as he emerged from the water, God’s voice was heard; and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. The moment marked the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the origin of the sacrament of baptism, practiced subsequently across diverse Christian traditions.
The new museum will be Christian-centered but welcoming and inclusive to all, situated as it is in a landscape where multiple traditions have coexisted across millennia. It will offer a space for reflection and learning, and – depending on the individual – prepare visitors for a profound spiritual connection. As a literal and figurative gateway to the Baptism Site itself, the museum will guide visitors on a journey towards the pilgrimage path leading to the river.
The museum will be the anchor project within the wider masterplan for the Baptism Development Zone (BDZ), which will feature a range of visitor experiences for pilgrims, researchers and visitors from around the world. Based on current trends and anticipated growth, the museum is expected to welcome 400-450,000 visitors annually. The competition’s winning design will be reviewed in coordination with UNESCO and in accordance with its Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessment.
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 project is generously funded in part by donors from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The invited competition was managed by London-based Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC), specialists in international architectural competitions. MRC recently ran the high-profile international competitions for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar; Saudi Arabia’s gold-award winning pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka; a new museum building at Kistefos (Norway); the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Masterplan (London, UK); the expansion at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, US); and the design of Qatar’s permanent pavilion in the Giardini at La Biennale di Venezia (Venice, Italy).
For further information about the Museum of Jesus’ Baptism at Bethany, Jordan International Design Competition, please visit: competitions.malcolmreading.com/bethany