There's a new kid on the block at London's Science Museum; 'Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery' designed by Unknown Works, has just opened its doors to the public. The space, created by the emerging architecture studio that featured in the 2022 Wallpaper* Architects Directory, is dedicated to examining discussions around energy consumption and decarbonisation in light of the ongoing climate emergency.
Touring the Science Museum's Energy Revolution gallery
Echoing their content's environmental themes and concerns, the new displays have been conceived with a strong sustainable architecture approach in mind. As a result, the 800 sq m hall was created using recycled and repurposed material.
Working with a whole-life carbon assessment as a key design tool to guide decisions and inform the overall concept, Unknown Works, headed by three co-founders Ben Hayes, Kaowen Ho and Theo Games Petrohilos, adhered to the Science Museum Group’s wider target of achieving net zero by 2033.
Display boxes and structures are all constructed using elements from repurposed metal exhibition systems. Showcases, mounts, lighting and graphics are all integrated within them. The design's modularity also means that the entire thing can be demounted and rebuilt elsewhere or further reused, should the gallery ever close.
‘From the outset, we were inspired to use as little new material in the gallery’s design as possible. Repurposing existing archival and exhibition material allowed us to shine a light on the transitory and often wasteful nature of exhibition design, and deliver a landmark new gallery in complete harmony with its curatorial content,' says Games Petrohilos.
‘Our circular layout poses the idea that no one solution is the panacea to get us to a sustainable future, we must live in a careful balance of solutions – each part of a collective balancing act.’
-
Sculpture meets jewellery meets sport? Kelly Wearstler’s latest venture is doing something completely newThe designer is launching a new curatorial platform, Side Hustle, free from the limitations of commercial commissions and aiming to foster truly original, experimental and interdisciplinary work
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
Italy’s most famous recipe book gets a revamp for its latest edition‘Il Cucchiaio d'Argento’, or ‘The Silver Spoon’, is Italy's best-known recipe book: artist Olimpia Zagnoli and cultural design studio Bunker collaborated on a new look for its latest edition
-
2025 Lisbon Architecture Triennale ponders the (literal and figurative) weight of humanityJoin us on a tour of the 2025 Lisbon Architecture Triennale, exploring the question ‘How Heavy is the City?’ and our impact on the planet
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in LondonRegent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
-
The Royal College of Art has announced plans for renewal of its Kensington campusThe Royal College of Art project, led by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, includes the revitalisation of the Darwin Building and more, in the hopes of establishing an open and future-facing place of creativity
-
Ursula K Le Guin’s maps of imaginary worlds are charted in a new exhibitionUrsula K Le Guin, the late American author, best known for her science fiction novels, is celebrated in a new exhibition at the Architectural Association in London, charting her whimsical maps, which bring her fantasy worlds alive
-
Power Hall’s glow-up shines light on science and innovation in ManchesterPower Hall at The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester was given a spruce-up by Carmody Groarke, showcasing the past and future of machines, engineering and sustainable architecture
-
Celebrate the angular joys of 'Brutal Scotland', a new book from Simon Phipps'Brutal Scotland' chronicles one country’s relationship with concrete; is brutalism an architectural bogeyman or a monument to a lost era of aspirational community design?
-
Max Creasy on the future of architectural photography and a shift to the ‘snapshot’A show of photographer Max Creasy’s work opens at the AA in London, asking a key question: where is contemporary architectural photography heading?
-
Is slowing down the answer to our ecological challenges? Copenhagen Architecture Biennial 2025 thinks soCopenhagen’s inaugural Architecture Biennial, themed 'Slow Down', is open to visitors, discussing the world's ‘Great Acceleration’
