The Irish Linen Centre is an extension to the historic market house, which had been adapted as the Lisburn Museum in the early 1980s. As the first phase of the project, Hall Black Douglas were appointed to restore the Grade A Listed building – the Assembly Rooms now housing the Lisburn Museum. The second phase of the project was to create a new Interpretive Centre. This three–storey block is linked to the old two–storey market house by a tall glazed atrium. The old building was retained almost unchanged. The main interpretive display for the linen industry occupies the first floor of the new building, accessed by a staircase of steel and polished wood from the ground floor, and the overhead bridge from the old building.