The British Museum’s Islamic collection comprises a broad and diverse spectrum of the material culture produced from the seventh century to the present day in the Islamic world. Through the generosity of the Albukhary Foundation, the Museum has been able to create a substantial permanent exhibition within Galleries 42-45 to house these treasures. The 700 sq m space was partially occupied by 1970s-era, mezzanine gallery space, the steel framework of which had severely damaged much original plasterwork.
Conservation works were undertaken, resulting in removal of the steel frame, rooflights and copper roof. The failing copper was replaced with traditional lead, and a bespoke Brise Solei system was installed to control natural light into the gallery.
HOK undertook base build architecture on the project, in tandem with Stanton Williams’ exhibition design. HOK’s expertise with BIM and 3D modelling was utilised to coordinate the sub-floor space, which comprised a latticework of new steel beams, electrical basket trays and heating pipes. The base build design had two imperative goals: firstly, the existing Victorian floors required strengthening to meet modern gallery code requirements; and secondly, the new display cases (weighing several tonnes each) needed their own steel beam supports. The resultant new floors were finished in new natural Welsh slate and engineered-oak floor-plank system, with decorative iron floor grills. These serve to cover hot water pipe trenches, allowing for substantially reduced energy demands and the total avoidance of fan coils.
The galleries opened to the public in October 2018.
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.