In 1989, Sir Terence Conran, founder of the design house chain “Habitat”, founded the Design Museum London. Success proved his idea right and the museum next to the Tower Bridge soon became too small. Finally, with the Commonwealth Institute building in the fashionable district of Kensington, a new neighbourhood was found.
As wall coverings, we were able to supply over 600 m2 of TOPPERFO® Micro for this building.
The building of the Commonwealth Institute is itself an architectural/design icon of Great Britain. It is the first concrete shell construction created in England. Opened in 1962, the spectacular copper roof with a span of 38 m is a landmark in the contours of West London. In view of the English Heritage (monument authority), it is the second most important London building of the modern age.
A „cathedral for design“ is how the museum was named by the English press after its reopening. The new Design Museum showcases industrial and product design on 10,000 m2 of exhibition space from the beginnings to the latest generation of Apple computers.
TOPPERFO® Type Micro was installed on the walls on all four floors in the atrium. Only the upper part of the parapet height was micro-perforated, but the veneer (oak) runs from the floor to the ceiling as a unit. The proportions of structure and the rift of the veneer used were exactly specified by the panel architects „according to the high design aspect“.
Homepage Design Museum
Object: Design Museum, London GB
Customer: Acoustic Products Limited, Whitstable, Kent, GB
Architect: John Pawson Architects, London GB
Photo: Gareth Gardner photography + journalism, London GB
Specification: TOPPERFO® – Panels typ Micro, Perforation 2/2/0.5, Oak lime wash veneered, natural lacquered
Quantity: approx. 600 m2