© Philip Vile
- Architects: OMA, Allies and Morrison
- Location: Kensington High St, London, United Kingdom
- Interior Architecture: John Pawson
- Area: 110000.0 ft2
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Philip Vile, Nick Guttridge, Luke Hayes, Courtesy of OMA, James Harris
- Client: Chels eld with Ilchester Estates and the Design Museum
- Facades/ External Envelope/ Structure/ Landscape: OMA and Allies and Morrison with Arup Engineering and West 8 Landscape Architects
- Structure/ Core/ Building Envelope: Chels eld with Mace
- Oma Partner In Charge: Reinier de Graaf
- Oma Director: Carol Patterson
- Oma Project Architects: Mario Rodriguez, 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, Andres Mendoza, Ioana Mititelu, Barbara Modolo, Ross O’Connell, Adrian Phiffer, Alex Rodriguez, Duarte Santo, Lawrence Siu, Ivan Valdez, Boris Vapne, Greg R. Williams, Xu Yang, Delnaz Yekrangian, Nikos Yiatros
- Allies And Morrison Partners: Simon Fraser, Robert Maxwell
- Allies And Morrison Director: Neil Shaughnessy
- Allies And Morrison Associate Directors: Joel Davenport, Heidi Shah
- Allies And Morrison 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
- Contractor: Mace
- Structural Engineer: Arup Structures
- Services Engineer: Arup Services
- Facades: Arup Facades; FMDC
- Fire: Arup Fire
- Acoustics: Arup Acoustics
- Landscape: West8
- Quantity Surveor: Aecom
© Nick Guttridge
From the architect. In December 2007, along with ve other architectural firms, OMA was invited by Chels eld 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.
© Luke Hayes
Diagram
© Luke Hayes
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 realized while retaining the renowned parabolic copper roof in-situ, which required significant engineering skill from Arup and the contractor, Mace.
Elevations
© Nick Guttridge
Section
The facades have been completely replaced to fulfill 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.
© Philip Vile
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.
© Luke Hayes
The Commonwealth Institute refurbishment project has been realized as an essential part of the adjacent Holland Green development by Chels eld 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.
Courtesy of OMA
Sig Nordal 