John Pawson’s design for the newly relocated Design Museum in London will allow it to step up as an international centre for culture and education. The plan has tripled the gallery space, placing it in closer proximity to London’s leading museums, and fundraising has now enabled it to open up its collections for free.
The sweeping pavilion roof – preserved from the original 1960 Grade II listed Commonwealth Institute with the structural expertise of OMA – symbolises its status as an architectural monument to design.
Original concrete floors were removed with radical engineering techniques directed by OMA, Allies and Morrison and Arup, in order to preserve the iconic roof and restructure the buildings into a contemporary design of sweeping simplicity. OMA’s Reinier de Graaf described how they began working on the structure before it had a purpose or owner; when the Design Museum claimed it, ‘a refurbishment became a conversion on to ever more radical degrees’.
The Design Museum's oak-lined atrium. Photography: Gareth Gardner
Pawson then carved the 10,000 sq m space up, making way for a colossal operation of a vast atrium with stepped seating, a permanent gallery, two temporary gallery spaces, a restaurant, auditorium, studios, library, archive, shop and new learning facilities.
The permanent collection – curated into an exhibition titled ‘Designer/Maker/User’ – sits just beneath the roof on the top floor, allowing visitors to see the impressive structure up close as they curve through the energetic exhibition design by Studio Myerscough. By contrast, the gallery at -2 has high ceilings, open space and low display tables, showing the significant effect of architecture on exhibition display and visitor experience.
Pawson’s first major public work displays attentiveness to a purely human recognition of spatial immersion – an absolute requirement for a museum – through the wide atrium, which is combined with a lightness felt in the smooth oak stair and the softly dynamic spiral of the paraboloid roof.
‘Design is about optimism,’ says Sir Terence Conran, who founded the Design Museum in 1983. ‘It’s clean, fresh, well lit, friendly and full of surprises,’ he adds of the design, 'a dream that has been a long time materialising’ and the most important moment of his design career.
Inside, the hyperbolic paraboloid roof is a focal point throughout the space.
Warm oak panelling brings a calming feel to the interiors.
The roof was renovated and restructured by OMA.
The original facade has been rebuilt with double glazed glass
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Design Museum website (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
Design Museum
224–238 Kensington High Street
London W8 6AG
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
Industrialised building system prototype proposes solution for urgent housing needsWe examine an industrialized building system prototype proposal by Chilean architecture practice Ignacio Rojas Hirigoyen Architects
-
Monica Bonvicini ‘I do You’ review: bondage, mirrors and feminist takes on masculine architecture
Emily McDermott reviews Monica Bonvicini’s much-anticipated exhibition ‘I do You’ at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie
-
Lavoie Series 1 e-scooter is a premium machine shaped by supercars and motorsports
The first product of McLaren Applied’s new premium mobility brand, the Lavoie Series 1 folding electric scooter is designed for urban commutes: can it outperform its rivals?
-
Dandi Wembley is a celebration of co-living in London
The Dandi Wembley, an innovative and well-considered, new co-living rental proposition, launches in north London
-
Sydney Modern opens its doors and reveals immersive SANAA architecture
SANAA’s Sydney Modern opens its doors to the public in Australia
-
RIAS’ Doolan Award 2022 goes to Quarry Studios by Moxon Architects
Quarry Studios by Moxon Architects scoops RIAS’ Doolan Award 2022
-
Celebrating supermodels: the oft-unsung heroes of architecture
Piercy & Company’s ‘Supermodels’ exhibition has just launched in London's Kings Cross, celebrating the art of miniature building
-
Lina Ghotmeh will design the Serpentine Pavilion 2023
Lebanon-born, Paris-based Lina Ghotmeh is revealed as the architect to take on the Serpentine Pavilion 2023 commission in London
-
The art of the London extension refined in this sleek modernist addition
Francesco Pierazzi Architects’ London extension in West Dulwich opens a grand Victorian house up to its garden, creating exceptional interior spaces
-
Wraxall Yard transforms derelict Dorset barns into accessible community space
Wraxall Yard in Dorset sees Clementine Blakemore Architects transform a series of derelict barns into an accessible community space, a workshop and holiday accommodation
-
Refreshed Gainsborough House in Suffolk gears up for reopening
Thomas Gainsborough House in Suffolk reopens to a design by architecture studio ZMMA
