TOP TEAM
“WE HAD TO JACK THE WHOLE BUILDING UP AND SCOOP OUT THE UNDERNEATH –
ALL WITHOUT CRACKING A PANE OF GLASS” The Window on the World is an imaginative use of space to demonstrate the diversity and wide range of collections at the museum
GARETH HOSKINS Director of Gareth Hoskins Architects
What’s your design? We worked with the exhibition designer Ralph Appelbaum Associates on a con- cept where the museum spaces worked together rather than just being dropped in. There had to be a coherent use of the spaces and the fantastic volumes – the building has three-storey atria galleries. We also wanted to connect the museum
with the city. It sits in the middle of the old town on a world heritage site. It’s one of the most visited cities in the world and yet the most visitors the museum ever had was 800,000 in a year.
How did you achieve this? We looked back at the historical develop- ment of the complex. As is often the case with Victorian buildings, it had lots of piece- meal additions – someone’s decided they need a certain gallery or disabled toilets and have put them in to deal with an imme- diate need. This project allowed us to step back and look at the whole complex and ask: What things are getting in the way? Where can we take things out? Where can we reinstate things that were great about
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the original buildings? And how can we ful- fi l the other needs in a much better way? For example, the major exhibitions area,
which is a big draw, was erected in the cen- tre of the museum so it blocked the view through the museum to galleries and the original circulation patterns. It meant that when visitors came through the door, their fi rst view was of a blocked up entrance. It was an addition that had been put in in a strange place, which we could take out and put in a more suitable location.
What’s the aim of the design? We’re putting the space back into its origi- nal use. Certain areas had been closed off, so we’ve reinstated them as galleries. The museum is now much easier to
move round. Previously, only 10 per cent of visitors ever found their way above the fi rst fl oor. We’ve created a series of lifts and routes, which take people right up to the top fl oor, which is effectively the third level of galleries. An article in The Guardian newspaper described it as “a museum you can’t get lost in”, which is a complete turn- around from what it was originally.
What have been the main challenges? The technical issues of how to make the changes while dealing with delicate fab- ric and windows. We had to make 20m (65.5ft)-long openings in the ground level,
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND’S PORTFOLIO
● National Museum of Scotland ● National War Museum ● National Museum of Costume ● National Museum of Rural Life ● National Museum of Flight ● National Museums Collection Centre
jack the whole of the building up and scoop out the underneath and lower the levels to form the new entrance and arriv- als hall. All of this had to be done without cracking a pane of glass. The construction work was carried out by Balfour Beatty and the gallery fi t-out was by Beck Interiors.
What’s the next design phase? In addition to the eight new galleries, the next stage of the masterplan involves changing the street outside the museum and developing the steps at the front of the building to create a real public space. In most national museums around the
world you arrive in a space – here you arrive in a car park. We’re going to part- pedestrianise the street and create a public realm outside the museum and a streetscape. The steps, if you give them more space, will become a meeting and gathering space where people sit. It’s going back to that idea of reconnecting the museum with the city. ●
AM 1 2012 ©cybertrek 2012
PHOTO: NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND
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