An £40m museum dedicated to the history of the River Thames and maritime heritage of the estuary is to be built on the seafront at Southend.

Following a public tender from Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, it has been announced that London-based architects HawkinsBrown will deliver the new 10,000sq m (107,639sq ft) Thames Estuary Experience attraction, which will include the museum, a planetarium, restaurant, retail outlet and multi-storey parking.

The museum will feature interactive and multi-sensory exhibits and historic artefacts including remnants from a Royal Anglo-Saxon tomb and the 17th-century shipwreck of The London.

Plans for the museum, originally conceived as the Southend-on-Sea Museum, are not new, with AEW Architects designing the concept in 2009 and planning permission being granted three years later. HawkinsBrown will work from these designs, with the carpark opening in phase one, and the museum to follow.

As part of their research for the development, Southend councillors have visited attractions such as the Jorvik Centre in York, Flambards in Cornwall and the Warner Bros Studio Tour and Museum of London.