Parabolic dreams. The Design Museum by OMA + Allies and Morrison
20/11/2016.
Interior by John Pawson [LON] KU
metalocus, CLAUDIA CENDOYA
metalocus, CLAUDIA CENDOYA
The renovation of the new London Design Museum, housed in the former building housing the Commonwealth Institute, has been completed and the museum will open to the general public on November the 24th. The rehabilitation of the characteristic building next to Holland Green has been designed by OMA and Allies and Morrison, who have introduced a new life input in the pre-existence without losing its essence.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Nick Guttridge.
Overview. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Nick Guttridge.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Nick Guttridge.
Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Nick Guttridge.
Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Plot map. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Plan of situation. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Ground floor plan The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
First floor plan The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Second floor plan. The Design Museum por OMA y Allies and Morrison. Imagen © OMA + Allies and Morrison
-1 floor plan The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
-2 floor plan The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
-3 floor plan The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Section. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Elevations. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Details The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Elevation of plot. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Axonometric view. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Exterior access. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Detail. Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Detail. Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
Cafe. Interior view. Detail. Night view. Exterior. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies & Morrison. Photograph © Luke Hayes.
General view of the rehabilitation of the Commonwealth Institute. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
General view of the rehabilitation of the Commonwealth Institute. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Section. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Section. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Image © OMA + Allies and Morrison
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
Construction. The Design Museum by OMA and Allies and Morrison. Photograph © Philip Vile
The design of OMA and Allies and Morrison maintains the Commonwealth’s Institute characteristic parabolic shape and its well-known copper roof. The facade of the original building has also been treated so that the new glass facades follow the pattern in which they were previously organized. The rehabilitation has required an important structural intervention to enable the building to its new museum use without compromising its main characteristics. The interior design of the Design Museum has been developed by John Pawson Studio.
The intervention has not been limited to the rehabilitation of the building, but also seeks to reorder the area of Holland Green and Kensington High Street, with the help of the landscapists West 8.
The intervention has not been limited to the rehabilitation of the building, but also seeks to reorder the area of Holland Green and Kensington High Street, with the help of the landscapists West 8.
Project description by OMA
In December 2007, along with five other architectural firms, OMA was invited by Chelsfield deputy chairman Sir Stuart Lipton to consider the potential of the Commonwealth Institute site. OMA’s proposal sought to save the grade II* listed building by reinjecting life into the modernist monument, the new home for London’s Design Museum, while retaining its distinctive copper roof and parabolic form. OMA with Allies and Morrison were the architects responsible for the design of the refurbished structural shell and external envelope of the building. The project required a close working relationship with Design Museum interior architects, John Pawson.
Significant and complex refurbishment works were carried out, including the wholesale reconfiguration of the structure and basement excavation to increase floor area and organisational efficiency to suit the needs of the Design Museum, while balancing the retention of the dramatic views to the underside as agreed with heritage officers. The refurbishment was realised while retaining the renowned parabolic copper roof in-situ, which required significant engineering skill from Arup and the contractor, Mace.
The facades have been completely replaced to fulfil contemporary technical building standards. The glazing was redesigned and replaced to retain the pattern of the fenestration and the blue-glass appearance of the original RHWL building. This new system permits controlled daylight into and views out of future museum spaces. Original stained glass panels were removed, refurbished and reinstated to be enjoyed by future visitors to the Museum.
The setting of the Design Museum has been designed with landscape architects West 8. Original features of the Commonwealth Institute have been painstakingly researched and reinterpreted back into the contemporary design with significant trees retained along the edge of Holland Park and Kensington High Street.
The Commonwealth Institute refurbishment project has been realised as an essential part of the adjacent Holland Green development by Chelsfield LLP and Ilchester Estates, a striking arrangement of three stone cubes that respond to the geometry and grid of the retained museum building, providing 54 residential apartments placed within a highly sensitive urban / park context and also designed by OMA and Allies and Morrison.
More information
OMA
Partner in Charge.- Reinier de Graaf
Project Architects.- Mario Rodríguez, Isabel Silva, Fenna Wagenaar, Mitesh Dixit, Richard Hollington III, Beth Hughes
OMA team
Caroline Andersen, Luis Arencibia, Fred Awty, Olga Banchikova, Thibaut Barrault, Rachel Bate, Thorben Bazlen, Katrin Betschinger, Philippe Braun, Matthew Brown, Kees van Casteren, Maria Cogliani, Tudor Costachescu, Johan Dehlin, Sebastien Delagrange, Miles Gertler, Hannes Gutberlet, Joyce Hsiang, Yerin Kang, Bin Kim, Andrew Kovacs, Caroline Martin, Roza Matveeva, Andrés Mendoza, Ioana Mititelu, Barbara Modolo, Ross O’Connell, Adrian Phiffer, Alex Rodriguez, Duarte Santo, Lawrence Siu, Iván Valdez, Boris Vapne, Greg R. Williams, Xu Yang, Delnaz Yekrangian, Nikos Yiatros
Allies and Morrison
Partners.- Simon Fraser, Robert Maxwell
Directors.- Neil Shaughnessy, Joel Davenport (associate director), Heidi Shah (associate director)
Associates.- Sean Joyce, Johanna Coste-Buscayret
Allies and Morrison team
Irina Bardakhanova, Ozlem Balicadag, Dinka Beglerbegovic, Thomas Cartledge, Ignacio Diaz-Maurino Jimenez, Owen Jowett, Iris Hoffman, Ines Kramer, Ioana Mititelu, Sophie Nicholaou, Fabiana Paluszny, Duarte Santo, Tom See Hoo, Mike Slade, Janina Vetriest, Stuart Thomson
Façades/ External Envelope/ Structure/ Landscape
OMA and Allies and Morrison with Arup Engineering and West 8 Landscape Architects
Interior Architecture
John Pawson
Structure/ Core/ Building Envelope
Chelsfield con Mace
Dates
2008-2016
Location
Kensington High Street, Holland Park, London. UK
Surface
110,000 sqm
Footprint
29,000 sqm
Director
Carol Patterson
OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practising architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. OMA's buildings and masterplans around the world insist on intelligent forms while inventing new possibilities for content and everyday use. OMA is led by eight partners – Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia.
OMA-designed buildings currently under construction are the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, The Factory in Manchester, Hangzhou Prism, the CMG Times Center in Shenzhen and the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux.
OMA’s completed projects include Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2022), Norra Tornen in Stockholm (2020), Axel Springer Campus in Berlin (2020), MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre (2020), Galleria in Gwanggyo (2020), nhow RAI Hotel in Amsterdam (2020), a new building for Brighton College (2020), and Potato Head Studios in Bali (2020). Earlier buildings include Fondazione Prada in Milan (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), Fondazione Prada in Milan (2015); G-Star Headquarters in Amsterdam (2014); Shenzhen Stock Exchange (2013); De Rotterdam (2013), CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012), New Court, the headquarters for Rothschild Bank in London (2011); Milstein Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (2011); and Maggie's Centre, a cancer care centre in Glasgow (2011). Earlier buildings include Casa da Música in Porto (2005), Seattle Central Library (2004), and Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003).
Architects Allies and Morrison
Allies and Morrison is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London. They operate from our own studios at 85 Southwark Street – the 2004 RIBA London Building of the Year.
They have completed projects throughout the UK and overseas, and are currently working on projects in the Middle East and in North America.
The work of the practice ranges from architecture, interior design and conservation to planning, consultation and research.
39 of their completed projects have won a RIBA Award and they have twice been shortlisted for the Stirling Prize – for the revitalisation of the Royal Festival Hall in 2008 and for New Court Rothschilds Bank in collaboration with OMA in 2012.
In 2015, they were awarded the AJ120 Practice of the Year.
JOHN PAWSON
John Pawson was born in 1949 in Halifax, Yorkshire. After a period in the family textile business he left for Japan, spending several years teaching English at the business university of Nagoya. Towards the end of his time there he moved to Tokyo, where he visited the studio of Japanese architect and designer Shiro Kuramata. Following his return to England, he enrolled at the Architecture Association in London, leaving to establish his own practice in 1981.
From the outset the work focused on ways of approaching fundamental problems of space, proportion, light and materials, rather than on developing a set of stylistic mannerisms - themes he also explored in his book Minimum, first published in 1996, which examines the notion of simplicity in art, architecture and design across a variety of historical and cultural contexts.
Early commissions included homes for the writer Bruce Chatwin, opera director Pierre Audi, contemporary art dealer Hester van Royen and collector Doris Lockhart Saatchi, together with art galleries in London, Dublin and New York. Subsequent projects have spanned a wide range of scales and building typologies, from Calvin Klein's flagship store in Manhattan and airport lounges for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong to the new Cistercian monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur in Bohemia.
In May 2006, two decades of visits to the twelfth century Cistercian monastery of Le Thoronet culminated in an exhibition, 'John Pawson: Leçons du Thoronet', the first such intervention ever to be held within the precincts of the abbey. Two weeks after the exhibition opening in Provence, celebrations in London marked the completion of the Sackler Crossing - a walkway over the lake at Kew's Royal Botanic Gardens. The same year also marked the practice's first stage design, with a set for a new ballet choreographed by Wayne McGregor for the Royal Ballet which premiered at London's Royal Opera House in November 2006.
Adriaan Geuze. WEST 8
West 8 is an award-winning international office for urban design and landscape architecture founded in 1987. Over the last 31 years West 8 has established itself as a leading practice with an international team of 70 architects, urban designers, landscape architects and industrial engineers. West 8 developed projects all over the world in places such as Copenhagen, London, Moscow, New York, Madrid, Toronto and Amsterdam.
The office gained international recognition with projects such as Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam (NL), Borneo-Sporenburg in Amsterdam (NL), Jubilee Gardens in London (UK), Expo \'02 in Yverdon-les-Bains (CH) and Miami Beach SoundScape Park (US). Many of the projects are the result of groundbreaking entries in important international competitions. Recently won competitions include Toronto Waterfront in Toronto (CA), Governors Island in New York (USA) and Yongsan Park in Seoul (KR).
Amongst the numerous awards received by West 8 are the Honor Award of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Lifetime Achievement Award for Architecture 2011, Mondriaan Fund (formerly BKVB), the International Urban Landscape Gold Award (IULA), the Prix de Rome, the Dutch Maaskant Award, the Bijhouwer Award, the Rosa Barba First European Landscape Prize, the Green Pin and the Veronica Rudge Green Prize for Urban Design.
Adriaan Geuze is one of the founders of West 8 urban design & landscape architecture b.v., a leading urban design practice in Europe. Geuze attended the Agricultural University of Wageningen where he received a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture. After winning the prestigious Prix-de-Rome award in 1990, Geuze, with his office West 8 founded in 1987, established an enormous reputation on an international level with his unique approach to planning and design of the public environment. By founding the SLA Foundation (Surrealistic Landscape Architecture) in 1992, Geuze increased public awareness of his profession.
The office gained international recognition with projects such as Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam (NL), Borneo-Sporenburg in Amsterdam (NL), Jubilee Gardens in London (UK), Expo \'02 in Yverdon-les-Bains (CH) and Miami Beach SoundScape Park (US). Many of the projects are the result of groundbreaking entries in important international competitions. Recently won competitions include Toronto Waterfront in Toronto (CA), Governors Island in New York (USA) and Yongsan Park in Seoul (KR).
Amongst the numerous awards received by West 8 are the Honor Award of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Lifetime Achievement Award for Architecture 2011, Mondriaan Fund (formerly BKVB), the International Urban Landscape Gold Award (IULA), the Prix de Rome, the Dutch Maaskant Award, the Bijhouwer Award, the Rosa Barba First European Landscape Prize, the Green Pin and the Veronica Rudge Green Prize for Urban Design.
Adriaan Geuze is one of the founders of West 8 urban design & landscape architecture b.v., a leading urban design practice in Europe. Geuze attended the Agricultural University of Wageningen where he received a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture. After winning the prestigious Prix-de-Rome award in 1990, Geuze, with his office West 8 founded in 1987, established an enormous reputation on an international level with his unique approach to planning and design of the public environment. By founding the SLA Foundation (Surrealistic Landscape Architecture) in 1992, Geuze increased public awareness of his profession.
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