Work on a new £35m museum at the site of the Mary Rose warship in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is to get underway this autumn after the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) approved funding for the scheme.
The £21m grant has been awarded to the Mary Rose Trust to help fund the construction of the permanent museum housing artefacts from the 16th century vessel, which will also undergo final conservation work as part of the project.
Designed by a team including Wilkinson Eyre Architects, interior designers Pringle Brandon and Land Design Studio, along with Gifford structural engineers, the new facility will house the Mary Rose within a structure resembling a black, wooden jewellery box.
Thousands of artefacts recovered when the Mary Rose was raised from the bottom of the Solent in 1982 will be put on display in the museum, which will also include an interpretation of the ship's hull, a new introductory film and time-lapse photography.
It is expected that the attraction, which is being built around the hull of the historic ship, will be completed in time for the London 2012 Olympics, although conservation work on the hull means that it won't be put on full display to visitors until 2016.
The Mary Rose Trust has already raised nearly £10m for the project, and is planning to launch a new public fundraising campaign next month in order to secure the remaining £4m.
John Lippiett, chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, said: "The Mary Rose features highly on an international stage; the new museum will attract visitors from all over the world and our learning programme inspires children, students and community groups of all ages and abilities.
"Our call now is for people to help with the final push towards funding when we launch our fundraising appeal and to make sure that they visit the ship hall before the autumn if they've never had the chance to see the hull, before it's withdrawn temporarily."