Hasta La Ideas

Architect Matilde Peralta del Amo has converted an old market hall in western Spain into a theatre with a huge concrete mouth.

Located in the small town of Navolmoral de la Mata, the L-shaped structure of the old hall accommodates the theatre auditorium within its largest side and a generous reception lobby opposite.

Matilde Peralta del Amo removed an atrium that formerly provided access to storage areas and added a towering concrete entrance with a row of glazed doors.

“This element marks the entrance, links the old and new structures, and makes visible the new activities taking place within,” says Peralta del Amo.

New roofing adds additional height to the theatre, plus the architect has constructed concrete walls behind the original facades to protect the interior from ground water and damp.

These concrete interior walls and ceilings are left uncovered, but have been stained to create a flower pattern.

“The rehabilitation preserves the ambience and scenic qualities of the old market, while providing Navalmoral de la Mata and the area with a new theatrical infrastructure,” says the architect.

Other small theatres completed in recent years include a bright red auditorium at London’s National Theatre and one with a bulky concrete cafe on top.

See more theatres on Dezeen »
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Here’s some more information from Matilde Peralta del Amo:

Transformation of the Municipal Market into a Theatre, Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres)
First Prize Design Competition

The old Municipal Market, now the Navolmoral de la Mata Theatre, is a free standing structure located at the edge of the traditional town centre and the area of twentieth century urban growth. The original “L” shaped edifice was formed by 2 sheds and an open atrium providing access to storage areas.

Surrounded by housing blocks too tall for the scale of the narrow streets, the Market, City Hall and Church seem to have escaped from a fairy tale. These newer blocks of recint vintage contrast with the dimunitive scale of the public buildings which are a patent reminder of the agricultural origins of the city.

The rehabilitation preserves the ambience and scenic qualities of the old market, while providing Navalmoral de la Mata and the area with a new theatrical infrastructure. Visually the old market merely changes its roofs; in reality a new building is built within the old-independent in order to avoid humidity and ground water. Made entirely of poured in place concrete, the inner building allows for greater volume and longer structural spans than the old construction; facilitating its new program as a theatre. The old atrium-courtyard is replaced by an access portico, separated from the older construction. This element marks the entrance, links the old and new structures, and makes visible the new activities taking place within. The concrete walls that form the space are bare, bearing the marks of their making. Within the theatre, the walls are covered in flowers; dressed to resolve the technical requirements of the space.

Architect: Matilde Peralta del Amo
Location: Joaquín Alcalde Street
Architect: Matilde Peralta del Amo
Owner: Consejería de Cultura y Turismo. Government of Extremadura
Mechanical Systems Engineering: JG asociados
Structural Engineering: Alfonso Gómez Gaite. GOGAITE
Clerk of the works: José Luís Periañez
Competition date: September 2006
Project date: September 2007
Finish date: May 2011
Built area: 1,500 sqm
Budget: €1.900.000

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by Matilde Peralta del Amo appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese firm Kengo Kuma and Associates has completed an art and culture centre with a chequered timber facade on the banks of the Doubs river in Besançon, France (+ slideshow).

Entitled Cité des Arts, the centre comprises the Besançon Art Centre, which includes a gallery for regional collections and an art college, and the Cité de la Musique, a music school with its own auditorium.

Kengo Kuma and Associates won a competition to design the centre with plans for a timber-clad complex united beneath a single roof. This roof bridges the gap between a pair of three-storey buildings, creating a sheltered terrace in the space between.

“We did not want to propose a simple box,” say the architects. “By covering the gorgeous riverside with one generous roof, we aimed to give a unity to a site characterised by heterogeneous existing elements, and to create a special space under the roof, a ‘shade of trees’ space where the wind from the river could blow and pass through.”

Steel and glass panels are interspersed between the chequerboard of timber that blankets the exterior, creating different transparencies to various spaces inside the two buildings. Reception spaces are filled with natural light, while classrooms and exhibition galleries are made more opaque.

“A beautiful shade may pass through this mosaic and enfold the people on the riverside,” say the architects.

The music school wraps around a small courtyard garden filled with mossy plants and low trees, while the art centre takes in a converted 1930s warehouse for use as an extra gallery.

Solar panels and sedum roof panels help to improve the sustainability of the centre. The structure is also elevated above ground level to decrease the risks of flooding.

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has completed several timber buildings in recent months. Others include a bamboo-clad hotel and a primary school based on a traditional Japanese schoolhouse.

See more architecture by Kengo Kuma »
See more architecture in France »

Photography is by Stephan Girard, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Cité des Arts

The 7th July of 2008, the city of Besancon has been recognised as UNESCO world heritage for his outstanding fortification system erected by Vauban during the XVII century. The site of the future art and culture centre reflects the historical richness of the city: located in-between the bastions called Rivotte and Bregille, remarkable vestige of a prestigious history, the existing building in bricks attest of the industrial river traffic and activity of the region. Besancon is well known for being precursory in the green development in France. The site is inscribes in a generous natural environment in-between hill planted of forest, over hanged by the Citadelle and close to the riverside of the Doubs.

Concept

This project is the result of the union between history and architecture, water and light, city and nature.

We wish that the Besancon Art and Culture Centre strikes a chord with the environment by the fusion of the different scale of reading, from the details to the entire project, by blurring the limit between interior and exterior, to create a building able to enter in resonance with its environment: the hills, the river and the city of Besancon.

The roof creates the link between the building and its environment and makes the project blatant. Semi-transparent, the roof symbolises the fusion between built and not-built and act as camouflage when people discover it from the Citadelle which is height overlooking. It is an invitation to the citizen to gather below his protection. It symbolised the encounter between the city and the nature, the citizen and the riverbank, the public and the culture.

The site brings with itself both its own history and the history of the city. The riverbank always has been either a protection or a barrier. The project is a continuity of this history, its longitudinal geometry is following the orientation given by Vauban, the warehouse, old storage of wood, is kept and participate in the richness of the building. The Besancon Art and Culture Centre perpetuate the notion of protection, but can be read as well as a monumental gate between the city and the river, outstanding object and symbol of the unification of the city and his river.

It is a landmark, recognisable by a sober design and the quality of his materiality. We wish to reinforce the genius loci of the site through a strong and clearly identifiable building, but still respecting the relationship with the existing bastion, the river and the city.

Organisation Principle

Unified below the large roof, the two functions are identifiable by subtle differences in the patterns of the façade composed by wood panels and steel panels. The pattern dimensions are for the FRAC: 5000 X 2500 Horizontal while for the CRR 1625 X half floor height vertically.

The FRAC is partially located in the old brick warehouse building. After taking out two of the existing slabs, the void created is containing the main exhibition room. The large lobby of the FRAC is as much as possible transparent, open to both “art passage” and city side. The natural top light is diffused thanks to the random positioned glass panels of the roof, in order to achieve to communicate the feeling of being below a canopy of tree, where the light gently come through leaves down to the ground. The CRR is more an introverted space, except for his lobby which is 14 m height and largely transparent. Both lobby of FRAC and CRR are connected by the roof, creating a semi-outdoor space, the “art passage”, which is flooded of natural light through the semi-transparent roof. This passage, a large void, is structuring the overall buildings: it acts simultaneously as a gate and a shelter; it emphasises the particularity of this project witch gathering two different functions.

The roof

The roof is the emblematic and unifying element of the project. Composed in a random way with different element such as glass, solar panel, vegetation and metal panels with different color finish, the natural light vibrates on its surface, depending of the absorption and reflection of the different elements composing it. It creates a pixelised layer where the apparent aleatory position of the “pixels” define a unique image, abstract and confounded with the environment hue. The transparency is partially defined by the necessity of the program below: opaque on top of the rooms such as classroom, administration, or exhibition room. It gets more transparent when it is on top of the lobby or when it is covering the outdoor spaces.

Suspended by a wood framework, this fifth façade made of variation of transparency and opacity represent a unique and innovative design, a thin pixelised layer floating on top of the Doubs river and becoming at night a landmark reinforcing the entrance of the city. The only element emerging from the roof is the old warehouse converted in exhibition gallery, reminding the industrial period of the site.

The landscape

The landscape design takes part in the pedestrian path along the river: it extend and connect the existing promenade. The main constrain of the site is the flood risk. We have reinforced the embankment and built on top of that dike. This is the reason why the building is installed on top of a pedestal. This pedestal can be physically experimented walking below the “art passage” semi-outdoor space, overhanging the street and connected to the river by a large stair.

The CRR is organised around a garden, called “harmony garden”, a wet garden combining moss and low trees. In continuity with the “art passage”, along the FRAC, a water pond planted with filtering rush is creating the soft transition between the city and the building. Partially covered by the semi-transparent roof, the shadow and light variations interweaves with the reflections on the reflection pond.

The interior design

The interior design is mainly structured by the façade and roof patterns, filtering the natural light.

Wood, glass, or metal meshes are combined with subtleties in order to generate a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. The wood frameworks supporting the roofing appear in the lobbies, terraces and in the last floors, which intensify the presence of the roof. The views to the exterior are precisely framed either to the water pond, the river, the double or triple height spaces manage to offer different space experiences.

Conclusion

This place which always has been perceived as a physical barrier for the citizens (either fortification or industrial area) we propose to generate an open and welcoming cultural centre, a gate and a roof between the river and the city, in harmony with the environment.

Project Credits:

Architects: Kengo Kuma, Paris and Tokyo
Project team: Sarah Markert, Elise Fauquembergue, Jun Shibata, Yuki Ikeguchi

Architect associate: Archidev, Cachan, France
Structure and MEP engineer: Egis, Strasbourg, France
Landscaper: L’Anton, Arcueil, France
Acoustic engineer: Lamoureux, Paris, France
Scenographer: Changement à Vu, Paris, France
Quantity surveyor: Cabinet Cholley, Besançon, France
Sustainable engineer: Alto, Lyon, France
Site Area: 20 603 sqm
Built area: 11 389 sqm
Client: Communauté d’agglomération, Franche-Comté, Ville de Besançon,
Budget: 26 900 000 Euros

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by Kengo Kuma and Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

The faceted surfaces of this library in the French town of Montauban by Paris architecture studio Colboc Franzen & Associés follow the lines of historical roads bordering the site (+ slideshow).

A former royal road created by Louis XIV influenced the alignment of the second floor, while the ground floor and first floor echo the orientation of a nineteenth century bypass.

There’s a foyer, auditorium, café and exhibition space on the ground floor, a large reading space on the first floor, and reference and work areas above.

Colboc Franzen & Associés twisted the top floor to face a different direction from the levels below, creating a mezzanine that projects through the centre of the building and a tiered seating area in the triangular space that connects it to the floor below.

A large overhang covers the entrance, sheltering visitors from the prevailing winds and noise from the nearby bypass.

Baked clay shingles that reference the brick typically used in the region cover the external walls.

Snøhetta has designed an angular library for an American university that uses a robotic system to retrieve books, while Foster + Partners wants to overhaul a public library in New York by creating a four-level atrium to allow access to unused reading rooms – see all stories about libraries.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

The construction of Montauban’s new multimedia library is the spearhead of an urban redevelopment project in the eastern parts of town. It will form a gateway into the town, an create an identity for neglected neighbourhoods and provide an emblem for the town of Montauban.It also had to reinvent what a library is for. Knowledge is going digital, so what issues have a bearing on this kind of programme? Montauban’s multimedia library gives a spatial context to and a material representation of information and how it is shared.

The land on which the multimedia library is to be built is bordered and intersected by the geometrical lines left by history. The road that cuts across the site is a former royal road laid out by Louis XIV; the old layout and therefore part of the buildings neighbouring the library are governed by this geometry.

The road that runs along the southern side of the site is a 19th-century bypass, whereas the roads and buildings to the north are influenced by the construction of the Chaumes complex between the 1960s and the late 1970s. Designing the project induced us to divide the building into three equal parts – a citizens’ forum, a large reading space called “Imaginary Worlds” that encourages people to explore and meet each other, and reading and working rooms.

By setting the three different parts of the project on top of each other and swivelling the top floor so that it shares a diagonal with two storeys below it and then connecting them by triangulation, we establish an interesting internal space that addresses the project’s needs and takes account of the site’s geometry.

The ground floor and the first floor therefore follow the line of the 19th-century road. The overhang is slightly truncated to echo the bend in the bypass. The second floor is laid out perpendicular to Louis XIV’s road, ensuring that the building and the roof ridge are aligned with the geometry of history. Lastly, the triangulation matches the geometry of the recent urban development in the northern part of the site.

Visitors will therefore approach the library under the northern overhang from the areas where development work is ongoing. The building protects them from the noise from the bypass and from the prevailing southeasterly wind. It also gives architectural expression to the political desire to welcome in local residents, for who have lived through some hard times and whose future development is ongoing.The citizens’ forum on the ground floor is there for use by passers-by and to welcome visitors inside. There is a large foyer that gives the latest news, a literary café, a 120-seater auditorium, and an exhibition room.

It also contains the service entrance and the administrative offices. The central foyer has a direct visual link to the first floor, which houses the “Imaginary Worlds”, a place of exploration and discovery for visitors of all ages. It has tiered reading areas to ensure a visual and spatial connection with the second storey, which is positioned as a mezzanine above the “Imaginary Worlds”, giving it the benefit of natural light when the sun is high in the sky.

Big plate glass windows at the edges of the two flat reading corners frame the stand-out features of the surrounding area, which are the gateway into town, a copse of hundred-year-old trees, and Montauban town centre. The initial geometrical positioning of the building ensures that the interior of the library resonate with the town outside.

Positioning it this way lends structural support to the overhangs. Two main steel girders run along the top floor and carry it, and they are propped up by four posts. Two of these are positioned at the corners of the lower levels, while the other two hold up the points of the overhangs and situated on the sides of the lower floors. This means that there are no carrying walls inside, allowing for extremely flexible usage.

The building is cloaked in a baked clay skin, which is a reference to Montauban’s typical brick exteriors. This skin consists of shingles, which operate as shading devices on some of the ground floor walls. They keep the staff’s offices cool and private. Only the large glass panes of the reading areas pierce the unusual baked clay-coated mass. The use of dyed concrete for the outside areas brings to mind the pebblestones used in the pavements of the old town.

Client: Montauban Town Council
Cost of construction: € 7,200,000 excluding all tax
Surfaces: Parcel area: 4 488 m2, Useable area: 2,965 m2, Net floor area: 3,800 m2
Location: 2 rue Jean Carmet – 82000 Montauban
Project management: Colboc Franzen & Associés, architects
Project manager › Géraud Pin-Barras
Mission › base exe partielle + OPC + furnishings
Technical consultants › Structure: Groupe Alto | Fluids and Green Building – INEX | Finances: Bureau Michel Forgue | Roads and External Works: ATPI | Acoustics: J-P Lamoureux | Landscaping: D Paysage | Lighting: SB.RB | OPC : INAFA

Contractors: LAGARRIGUE BTP et INSE: terracing/ foundations/structural work
RENAUDAT: structural steel work SO.PRI.BAT: steel tanks roofing + waterproofing TROISEL SA: ceramic panel cladding + over- roofing
LUMIERE ET FORCE: high and low voltage electricity
REALCO: outdoor fittings and smooth aluminium façade
CONSTRUCTION SAINT-ELOI: metalwork
MISPOUILLE: plumbing/toilets GTVS: heating/ventilation/air-conditioning
OTIS: elevator
LAGARRIGUE: partitions/doubling/false ceilings
BATTUT: indoor wooden fittings
MERZ FABIEN: tiles/earthenware
LE SOL FRANCAIS: soft floors
VEDEILHE: painting/wall coatings
MALET: roads + external works
CAUSSAT: landscaping

Schedule:
Competition: 2005
Building permit: march 2009
Beginning of building work: June 2010
Date of completion: February 2013

Brief:
Subject reference areas, cafeteria, 120-seater auditorium, exhibition room, car parks

Sustainable development:
– Green Building project (Targets 1, 4, 8 and 10)
– Complies with RT 2005 thermal insulation standards
– Use of certified materials
– Balanced ventilation with heat recovery
– Low noise pollution

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by Colboc Franzen & Associés appeared first on Dezeen.

News: toy brand Lego has revealed the design by Danish studio BIG for a visitor centre based on its famous plastic bricks.

BIG‘s Lego House resembles a stack of Lego bricks rising from a public square in the company’s home town of Billund, Denmark.

Inside, the bricks will house exhibition spaces, a café and a shop, while several roof top gardens and sheltered spaces beneath the building will be accessible to the public.

“The creative use of the Lego brick shape is a true visualization of the systematic creativity that is at the core of Lego play,” said Peter Folmann, marketing responsible for the Lego House in a statement on the company’s website.

Construction is due to begin in early 2014, with the inauguration scheduled for 2016.

We reported on the news that BIG and Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) had been chosen to design the experience centre for Lego earlier this year and BIG previously built a model of a proposal for some organically-shaped towers from 250,000 Lego bricks.

676 miniature Lego towers featured in an exhibition at last year’s Venice Biennale promoting the inclusion of architecture in European Union policies, while Sebastian Bergne built a greenhouse from Lego during the London Design Festival in 2011

See all of our stories about Lego »
See all our stories about BIG »

BIG recently proposed a redevelopment of a convention centre in Miami based around a large public square, which is competing with a rival design by Dutch firm OMA.

Here’s the full statement from Lego:

The LEGO Group today revealed the design of the experience center “The LEGO House”. The center, which will be built in Denmark, illustrates the systematic creativity of LEGO bricks and is expected to attract 250,000 visitors annually.

When the LEGO House opens in 2016 visitors to the house in Billund, Denmark will enter a building that resembles gigantic LEGO bricks combined and stacked in a creative way to create an imaginative experience both outside and inside. In the experience center guests can expect hours full of active fun while at the same time engaging in an educational and inspirational experience – everything that LEGO play offers.

Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, LEGO owner, explains: “The LEGO House will show the past, present and future of the LEGO idea and I am certain it will be a fantastic place, where LEGO fans of all ages and their families and friends will get a wide range of unique LEGO experiences. It is our belief that LEGO play fosters innovative thinking, and the LEGO House gives us an opportunity to make it very tangible what LEGO play offers and how it stimulates children’s creativity and learning.”

The project has been under way for more than a year and today the design of the house was revealed.

“Architect firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has designed a building that encapsulates what LEGO play and LEGO values are all about”, says Hans Peter Folmann, Marketing responsible for the LEGO House and adds:

“The creative use of the LEGO brick shape is a true visualization of the systematic creativity that is at the core of LEGO play, so we believe that this is the right look for the LEGO House. And it simply looks amazing.”

The LEGO House will be approximately 30 meters tall, and there will be public access to several roof-top gardens from the outside. The building will offer visitors a total of 7,600 square meters of exhibition areas, a café, a unique LEGO store and a large public square.

“It is our wish that the LEGO House is used by both visitors and the citizens of Billund; the birthplace and home town of the LEGO Group. For this reason a large part of the building – 1,900 square meters – will be a covered square with free access for the public, and we hope it will be a natural gathering point for people living in Billund as well as visitors. We do not know what specific activities will be in the house,” says Hans Peter Folmann and adds:

“We are very ambitious with the LEGO House – It is our hope and mission that a visit to the LEGO House will be an experience you will never forget, no matter if you are a long time fan or just want to know more about what LEGO play stands for.”

Construction of the building is expected to begin in early 2014 and the LEGO House will be inaugurated in 2016.

The LEGO House:
Will cover an area of 80 by 100 meters and it will be approximately 30 meters tall.
Will feature a total of 7,600 square meters – including exhibition areas, a café, a LEGO store and a public square.
Will be built at the center of the town of Billund, and many entrances will open up the building to the surrounding area.
Will be built in collaboration between KIRKBI A/S, the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group, but the LEGO Group will handle the daily operation of the LEGO House once finished.

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visitor centre unveiled appeared first on Dezeen.

A museum housing sixteenth century Tudor warship the Mary Rose opens today in an elliptical timber-clad building designed by London office Wilkinson Eyre Architects (+ slideshow).

Located in the historic dockyard of Portsmouth, England, the Mary Rose Museum displays part of the ship that served the navy of King Henry VIII for 33 years before spending 437 years undiscovered at the bottom of the sea.

Wilkinson Eyre Architects designed the museum with a stained black exterior, intended to reference traditional English boat sheds, and a disc-shaped metal roof that curves up over its elliptical body.

The starboard section of the ship’s hull is housed in a temperature-controlled chamber at the heart of the building and can be viewed through internal windows on three different storeys.

The interiors, by London firm Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will, were designed to recreate the dark and claustrophobic atmosphere found below a ship’s deck.

“We designed a museum that would recreate the experience of being on board the ship hundreds of years ago and created a context gallery to highlight its precious contents,” said studio principal Chris Brandon.

Spaces feature low ceilings and are kept deliberately dark, with lighting directed only onto exhibits and handrails so that visitors can find their way through the galleries.

Two smaller extensions branch out from the sides of the museum. The first accommodates a reception, cafe and shop, while the second contains an education centre.

Wilkinson Eyre Architects was the recipient of last year’s World Building of the Year prize for its role in the Gardens by the Bay tropical garden in Singapore. The firm also recently won a competition to design a skyscraper on Sydney’s harbourfront.

See more architecture by Wilkinson Eyre Architects »
See more museums on Dezeen »

Photography is by Richard Chivers.

Here’s some more information from the design team:

Award-winning architects bring the Mary Rose back to life and create a new centrepiece for Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard

The design of the new £27m Mary Rose Museum – by Wilkinson Eyre Architects (architect and design team leader) and Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will (architect for the interior) – is a story of collaboration, with the project team combining delicate conservation, contemporary architecture and specialist technical expertise. The result is a truly unique design that reveals the secrets of the famous Tudor ship, marking 30 years since the hull of the Mary Rose was raised from the Solent where she lay undiscovered for 437 years.

Like crafting a jewellery box to house a precious gem, the design team has together created a building and interior that protects and showcases the Mary Rose. Designed from the inside-out, the Museum building takes many of its cues from the historic ship, allowing its hull, artefacts and exhibitions to take centre stage and create a visitor experience befitting this remarkable piece of history.

At the heart of the project, within a carefully controlled ‘hot box’ environment, is the starboard section of the hull of the Mary Rose. Alongside it, a virtual port-side hull has been created over three levels to view the ship and house the context gallery. Encasing the Mary Rose and the largest collection of Tudor artefacts in the world is an architectural form that alludes to the historic significance of the Museum’s collection and announces the arrival of a major new cultural attraction.

Chris Wilkinson, Founding Director at Wilkinson Eyre Architects, said: “When you have a treasure like the Mary Rose, which continues to capture the world’s imagination, the architecture of the building takes a supporting role. However, the building has a very significant part to play in projecting the Museum and its remarkable collection to the world, creating intrigue and heightening the visitor experience of this major cultural attraction.”

Chris Brandon, Principal of Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will (PBP+W), said: “This museum is unique – the only one in the world to take its inspiration from the archaeological finds of the Mary Rose and the ship herself. Our role was to create a showcase for The Mary Rose and her artefacts befitting their significance, so we designed a museum that would recreate the experience of being on board the ship hundreds of years ago and created a context gallery to highlight its precious contents. Coming from a marine archaeological background, finally I can unite my two passions in life – architecture and marine archaeology. I hope visitors to the Mary Rose Museum are as excited by the end result as I am.”

The architecture

When working with such a fascinating artefact like the Mary Rose, the architecture needs to complement rather than distract. In this case, the challenge was finding the right architectural language to help articulate the story being told by the Museum, whilst adding a confident piece of contemporary architecture to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

The simple, pure elliptical form of the new building is derived from toroidal geometry echoing the shape of the Mary Rose; its timber is reminiscent of the ship’s historic hull, showcasing the innovative Carvel construction methods of the 16th Century. Further embedding the building in its maritime heritage, the timber has been stained black to reflect England’s vernacular boat shed architecture. ­­

The challenges of the site’s historic context, adjacent to HMS Victory and the listed Admiralty buildings, are compounded by the nature of the site itself: a late 18th Century Dry Dock that is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Care has been taken to keep the height of the Museum as low as possible to remain sensitive to the proportions and scale of the surrounding buildings. The low-profile, shell-shaped metal roof follows this logic and reduces the internal volume of space which has to be environmentally controlled to precise standards to ensure the conservation of the hull.

Two rectangular pavilions are attached to each side of the main building, one housing the main entrance reception, café and shop, and the other occupied by the Learning Centre and main plant room. The overall composition is a piece of contemporary architecture, an elegantly simple form with an air of mystery that encourages visitors to enter and explore.

The interior

The essence of the design of the interior evolved from the frozen moment in time seconds before the Mary Rose capsized and sank on 19th July 1545. Following the painstaking archaeological excavation and recording of the exact location of every find, the project team could see inside the Mary Rose and reunite the original contents – fittings, weaponry, armament and possessions – deck-by-deck.

A virtual hull was constructed to represent the missing port side with all the guns on their original gun carriages, cannonballs, gun furniture, stores, chests, rope and rigging. Visitors to the Museum walk in between the conserved starboard section of the hull and the virtual hull on three levels, seeing all the main shipboard material in context as though they are on board the Mary Rose. The end galleries then interpret the context gallery deck-by-deck in more conventional museum display cases, designed by Land Design Studio.

The atmosphere of being on the ship is further enhanced by the walkways following the shape of the deck from stern to bow and low ceilings on the lower deck. The Museum spaces are deliberately dark with daylight excluded and the only lighting either focused on the objects or concealed under the walkway handrail, lighting the space and re-creating the dark claustrophobic spaces below decks.

Two museum interiors have been designed – the first for 2013 to 2017/18 and the second for the period after 2018. Initially the Mary Rose will remain in her protective cocoon while she is dried and be seen through windows on the three levels of the context gallery and the lifts. However, on completion of the conservation process, the context gallery walkways will be opened and the Mary Rose and all her contents will be seen together.

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and Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will appeared first on Dezeen.