We were set the task of designing an Exhibition Centre which had to satisfy the following criteria:
It had to convey the ideas behind the Millennium Celebrations
It was to be built to a very restricted budget
It was to be in the former squash courts of the Royal Navy
It needed to be completed by December 1997
The biggest problem initially was to design a building that would satisfy the demanding requirements of both the authorities responsible for the historic fabric and the security requirements of the Royal Navy.
One of the buildings forming Greenwich's famous Royal Naval College houses the exhibition centre.
Formerly a racquets court and more recently two squash courts, the building offers a large exhibition space right next to the famous tea clipper the 'Cutty Sark'.
The building is a scheduled monument, so we needed to liaise closely with English Heritage and the Department of National Heritage.
By taking the approach of minimal intervention with the building fabric, we were able to convey to English Heritage that the proposed works were 'reversible' allowing the building to be reinstated as a racquets court at a later date if required. By minimising the works to the fabric we were also able to ensure that the maximum value for the client was achieved and that more of the budget could be allocated to the exhibition itself.
The balcony before conversion.
Looking down from the balcony.
Looking across from the balcony.
