London museum, which topped shortlist of 40, is the seventh British winner in 41 years

The Design Museum has been named European museum of the year, the seventh British winner in the 41-year history of the prize.

The London museum was crowned winner at a weekend ceremony in Warsaw, with judges praising it as “inspiring” and “socially aware”.

It rewards years of significant upheaval for the museum, founded three decades ago by Sir Terence Conran.

In 2016 it moved west from its beautiful but too small premises near Tower Bridge, in what used to be a banana-ripening warehouse, to the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington.

The move gave it three times more space and came with an ambition to do “what Tate Modern did for contemporary art, for design”.

Alice Black, the museum’s co-director, said being named European museum of the year was a remarkable achievement, which celebrated its “common European future”.

The European Museum of the Year award was founded in 1977 by the journalist and museologist Kenneth Hudson and the cultural studies pioneer Richard Hoggart.

Each year a judging panel visits up to 50 museums across Europe before choosing one which has, in their eyes, excelled. Before Monday there had been six UK winners beginning with the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire, the inaugural winner, followed by Beamish Museum in County Durham, the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool, the National Railway Museum in York, the V&A in London, and in 2013 the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

The Design Museum recently reached some important milestones. Earlier this year it welcomed its one millionth visitor to its new home and revealed that its big Ferrari show, which included 14 rare models, had been the most attended exhibition in its history with more than 100,000 visitors.

Peter Mandelson, the chair of museum trustees, welcomed the news, saying: “This announcement is a huge testament to the mission of the museum and thoroughly deserved following the opening of such a stunning new building and the successful range of exhibitions and programmes mounted in the last year.”

He said the museum got less than 2% of its funding from government programmes and relied on “the dedicated support of patrons, sponsors and foundations”.

The museum was one of 40 in the running for this year’s prize including the Science Museum in London, the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin and the Helsinki City Museum.