Reflections on the creation of a provincial "annex" to the Musée du Louvre date back to 2003. The idea, launched by the Minister of Culture and Communication, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, and the President of the Musée du Louvre, Henri Loyrette, was favorably received by Daniel Percheron, President of the Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council.

Several northern French cities then proposed to host the new museum, but Lens was chosen on November 29, 2004. This decision was a highly symbolic one, particularly since the site chosen—a former mine yard—represents national recognition for an area that has endured considerable hardship, both in wartime and during the mining era.

The principal funding for the Louvre-Lens comes from local authorities; the Nord–Pas de Calais region is the main funder, providing 60 % of the costs. The Pas-de-Calais département is contributing 10 % of the funding, and the Lens-Liévin urban area and Lens city council are sharing 10 % of the costs. This financial commitment will also apply to the running of the future museum.

The EU is also making a significant contribution—20 % of the costs—through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

At the pre-project summary stage in May 2007, the Louvre-Lens was estimated at EUR 127 million including taxes, the building itself totaling EUR 70 million (including taxes). These costs include the museum building (with a constructed area of over 28,000 m²), the organization of the first exhibitions, and the landscaping of the grounds.

The architects for the Louvre-Lens were chosen after an international competition to which 124 European, American, and Asian teams responded. Six of these were selected and judged on their project sketches.

The Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council standing committee selected the Japanese agency Sanaa, composed of architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.

Sanaa's project for Lens is an easily accessible structure that is transparent and open to nature. There will be five main buildings on the site, positioned like boats on a river that have gently drifted together.

The Musée du Louvre-Lens will be surrounded by greenery—landscaped grounds designed by the French architect designer Catherine Mosbach. The park will be open to the general public throughout the day (during museum opening times), and will provide the people of Lens with a particularly pleasant place for a stroll. In the evening, part of the site will be protected by a security zone, but a connecting path between east and west will remain open to the north of the site.

Unlike most museums, the Louvre-Lens will not have a collection of its own. Works of art from the collections of the Musée du Louvre will be lent to the museum in Lens for various lengths of time. Programs will be coordinated between the Louvre in Paris and the Louvre-Lens and, according to the themes chosen, works from the Paris museum (currently either on public display or in the storerooms) will be exhibited in Lens on a temporary basis. The constantly changing exhibitions will enable the museum to display masterpieces, and keep public interest alive.

The Louvre-Lens is an opportunity for the Musée du Louvre to imagine different ways of presenting its collections and to rethink its role vis-a-vis the public. The idea is to be highly flexible in the choice of works, how they are interpreted, and how they are presented. The aim of the new museum in Lens—which will be smaller than the Parisian palace, easier to fit out, and original in design—is to invent "a new-style Louvre" that is more generally accessible and closer to its visitors.

In addition to traditional material, new educational resources (especially those using the new information and communication technologies) will be tested in Lens.

Moreover, the museum's behind-the-scenes areas (storerooms, technical spaces) will be on public view: the storerooms will be visible and visitable, works of art will be restored in public, museum professions will be presented, etc.

The primary goal of the Louvre-Lens is to develop awareness of the Louvre's collection of artworks dating from between the 6th millennium BC and 1850. It will therefore not be a museum of contemporary art.

However, contemporary artists of international renown will be invited to the Louvre-Lens—as they are to the Louvre in Paris—either in relation to a project of their own or in connection with works from the Louvre exhibited in Lens. According to the museum's program choices, these guest artists may be local, Parisian, American, African, etc.

The pre-project was approved by the Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council in May 2007. The building permit should be issued in fall 2007, and the first stone laid in 2008. Provided there are no major problems, the Musée du Louvre-Lens should be completed in 2010.

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