engo Kuma’s new V&A Museum
of Design recently reached a defining moment
in what are the final stages of its construction
on Dundee’s waterfront. The removal of
the temporary cofferdam, which enabled the
building to be anchored into the bedrock
of the River Tay, has finally revealed the full
drama of the landmark project, which sports
a striking façade inspired by the craggy cliff
formations of Scotland’s east coast.
Due to open in 2018, the £80m V&A
Dundee will be Scotland’s first dedicated
design museum, and the only V&A museum
outside London. The project will also be
the first building in the UK designed by the
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who this
year has otherwise been busy working on
Tokyo’s National Stadium, the centrepiece
of the 2020 Olympics.
In a bravura feat of engineering, structural
experts Arup and construction firm BAM had
to dig 30 200m-deep bore holes to form part
of the museum’s geothermal heating system,
before building a complex structure in which
every single exterior wall is curved. They then
covered it with over 2,400 pre-cast panels
to create a striated façade that projects out
towards the sea.
Speaking exclusively to Wallpaper*, Kuma,
whose design was chosen in 2010 followingan international competition, describes the
key concept behind the recently revealed
superstructure: ‘The pre-cast concrete gives
a monumentality to the façade design.
We also wanted to create a real roughness,
so we exposed the aggregate in the concrete.
This matches the roughness and strength
of the sea and surrounding topography.
Between the concrete panels, strong shadows
create changing patterns, forming a new
relationship between the river and the
building. It fits with the beauty of the coast.’
For all its scale, the V&A Dundee is not
conceived simply as a standalone statement
building. Central to the architect’s vision
was to root the building in the city itself.
Indeed, it is a key element of Dundee’s
30-year waterfront masterplan; the museum
will sit alongside a new public park and
the historic ship RRS Discovery, which took
Scott to the Antarctic.
The V&A building is described by Kuma
as ‘a bridge connecting the city to the river’.
In fact, the axis of Union Street, the city’s
main thoroughfare, passes directly under the
museum, via a public plaza and walkway cut
through the middle of the building.
The three-storey, 8,000 sq m museum
includes a main hall, learning centre, lecture
theatre, temporary exhibition space, anda permanent gallery dedicated to Scotland’s
outstanding design heritage. Its star exhibit
will be Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Oak
Room, a two-storey masterpiece being rebuilt
after spending over four decades in storage.
The building consists of two structures
at ground level, intersected by the public
walkway and housing separate staff quarters
and public areas. They join to form an upper
level supported by huge steel beams and
offering large, uninterrupted gallery spaces,
with the main public hall and restaurant
featuring in the building’s ‘prow’.
Internally, Kuma’s aim was to create
a homely, rather than impersonal,
environment. ‘Despite the building’s
monolithic form, the interior space is
a combination of natural light and warm
materials, such as oak timber finishes,’
explains the architect. ‘The aim is that
when people go into the building after
coming in from the elements, it will feel
like their living room.’
Landscaping, by Edinburgh-based
multidisciplinary studio Open, will include
large-scale water features as well as plaza
spaces for performance and exhibitions.
The result, according to Kuma, will
be ‘a new landmark at one with nature’. ∂
vandadundee.org ; kkaa.co.jpK
THIS PAGE, ONE OF THE
BUILDING’S POINTED
CORNERS PROJECTS OUT
OVER THE WATER LIKE
THE PROW OF A BOAT
OPPOSITE, THE STRIATED
FAÇADE IS MADE OF OVER
2,400 PRE-CAST CONCRETE
FINS, EACH WEIGHING UP
TO THREE TONNES084 ∑