If Jones is to see all this through, it will take him to retirement age (he is 51 now). He will certainly want to see out the first two phases, culminating in the opening of The Spiral in 2007 or a bit after. If that falls by the wayside - and it is not in the bag yet - it will be a bitter blow. But even without the Spiral, Jones’s plan means that the whole museum effectively gets a giant rehang - apart from the immovable objects of the Victorian Cast Courts with their huge replicas of classical sculpture and architecture, and the much-loved National Art Library to the west of the courtyard. The Henry Cole Wing in the North-west corner becomes an education and study centre. A complete new “fashion quarter” will emerge above the North Court, which in turn releases the vast Octagon Court on the western side of the complex to become the culmination of a straight sequence of Asian galleries. Meanwhile the restoration of the splendid-but-concealed glass-roofed South Court will transform the temporary exhibition galleries.

Nothing, it seems, is ruled out. Back in the 1980s, the temporary “Boilerhouse” exhibition galleries at the V&A, funded by the Conran Foundation, eventually led to the breakaway of the Design Museum - after all involved fell out spectacularly. Now, says Jones, he has made contact with the Design Museum. Joint projects are by no means impossible. And if he can achieve that, he can achieve anything.