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| English Heritage Reference: | 1227441 |
|---|---|
| RBKC Reference: | 425203 |
| Property: | COMMONWEALTH INSTITUTE |
| Street: | KENSINGTON HIGH STREET , W8 |
| Date: | 12/10/1988 |
| Grade: | II* |
| Grouped: | |
| Description: | Cultural exhibition and conference centre. Built 1960-2. Small addition of early 1970s in NW corner of site. Exhibition layouts much changed from original. Designed by Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners (main job architects Peter Newnham and Roger Cunliffe), with major engineering contribution from A J and J D Harris (partner in charge James Sutherland). Exhibition designer, James Gardner. Main exhibition building has low brickwork plinth carrying concealed walls of blockwork clad on all four sides with opaque blue-grey Hills patent glazing. Exhibition building roof of complex section, consisting of centre pair of equilateral hyperbolic paraboloids flanked by four warps of 'bastard' hyperbolic shape, constructed of shell concrete in the centre warps and of pre-cast radiating concrete ribs in the outer warps, covered by woodwool slabs, the whole clad on the outside by sheet copper donated by the Zambian Government. In situ concrete 'legs' buttressing centre warps project at front and back of exhibition building. Covered approach walkway from Kensington High Street is part of the building, together with the grass sward, water channel and flagpole area in front, all landscaped by Sylvia Crowe. Administration and conference building to west of main exhibition building is of three storeys with frame of reinforced concrete, brickwork cladding, and flat roofs. Main entrance to exhibition building from Kensington High Street leads into dark vestibule and hence by ramp to a circular platform central to the building in both plan and section. Hence stairs lead up and down to three main levels of exhibition space, the whole designed so as to emphasize the effect of the 'roof' and make exhibition spaces allotted to the different Commonwealth countries equal in value and clearly visible. Interconnections are made on west side with rooms in the administrative block, notably the art gallery at upper level which has deep egg- crate ceiling and north-facing window calculated for natural lighting. Beneath the art gallery is a cinema/auditorium with raked seating. Administrative entrance is on west side of building, where 'prow' of exhibition area cuts into and through administration block, the axis of exhibition building being at 45� to administration block. Commonwealth Institute has architectural and engineering significance as the first major British 'swept' roof contributing to the international traditions of dramatic roof profiles set by Nowicki, Saarinen and Stubbins in the USA, Frei Otto in Germany and Felix Candela in Mexico. Structural system used for Commonwealth Institute roof is internationally unique, while its shape represents the first major British use of the hyperbolic paraboloid favoured by Candela, and probably is the largest span covered by such a roof at that date. Commonwealth Institute also has major cultural and historical significance as a new concept in educational and exhibition techniques, carrying on the Festival of Britain traditions of relating architectural form and display. Special attention was paid to lighting, ease of access and environmental services. Building was opened by HM The Queen. It continues the traditions and aims of the Imperial Institute, to which it was the successor, while radically revising the way in which they are presented in accord- ance with the changing concept of the Commonwealth in the early 1960s. LITERATURE A Commemorative Handbook issued on the occasion of the Opening of the new Institute on Tuesday 6 November 1962 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth (1962). Architects' Journal 14 November 1962, pp 1119 - 1126. The Architectural Review, vol 133, April 1963, pp 261 - 6. |
| English Heritage Picture: | External Hyperlink to English Heritage photograph of this listed building |
