Construction has started on Swansea's National Waterfront Museum.

The £28m project, designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre, is part of Swansea City Council's plans for the regeneration of the maritime area of the town with the aim of creating a waterfront destination on the River Tawe.

To be operated by the National Museums & Galleries of Wales and the first Welsh Museum to be designed and built for free access, the museum will include a major gallery space, café, shop and education facilities and house the largest collection of Welsh maritime and industrial artefacts under one roof. These are currently dispersed between several different sites.

The structure also contains a large amount of commercial space, which faces on to the waterfront.

Funding for the museum, which is scheduled to open in 2005, has been provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Wales Tourist Board, the Welsh Development Agency, the European Union and the Welsh Assembly Government, together with an initiative aimed at raising £4.4m from the private sector. Details: www.nmgw.ac.uk