A huge new Natural History Museum facility is being built near Reading, visible from the M4 when heading west towards Junction 11.
Located at Thames Valley Science Park, the site will be a state-of-the-art collection, research and digitisation centre for the museum.
"This new facility will house purpose-built storage for 28 million specimens, around a third of the Museum's vast collection.
"A major scientific research hub, it will provide innovative digital, analytical, and genomic technologies and facilities for the scientific community.
"The Museum's collections of mammals, non-insect invertebrates (such as corals, crustaceans, molluscs, and worms), fossilised mammals and invertebrates, molecular collections, and micropalaeontology will be housed at the new centre in bespoke storage."
Work began in September last year. An access road, started in March last year by Fergal Contracting Co, is due to be completed on Sunday, July 19, and the building work by Mace Construct is scheduled to finish on Monday, May 31, 2027.
Photos show parts of the exterior already finished and cranes on site. The building will cover the equivalent of three football pitches - about 25,000m2 - and is expected to be operational by 2031.
Once open, Natural History Museum Unlocked will free up space to reopen two galleries at the South Kensington museum that closed in 1948 and 2004.
Thames Valley Science Park is owned by the University of Reading. When construction began, Professor Robert van de Noort, the vice-chancellor of the university, said:
"This collaboration with the Natural History Museum perfectly aligns with our commitment to world-leading environmental research and innovation.
"By developing this state-of-the-art facility at Thames Valley Science Park, we're creating unprecedented opportunities for collaborative research that will help address the planet's most pressing challenges. We're excited to see this transformative project moving forward."
The scheme was approved by Wokingham Borough Council's planning committee on March 13, 2024.
It is not to be confused with the British Museum Archaeological Research Collection, which opened in June that year and holds 1.3 million objects relocated after the government's decision to sell Blythe House in West Kensington in 2015.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
