The V&A’s £30 million Medieval & Renaissance Galleries mark the completion of the first phase of the Museum’s £120 million Future Plan transformation. The new galleries, which open on 2 December, are the biggest project the V&A has undertaken since the British Galleries opened in 2001 and have been seven years in the making. Ten new galleries, occupying the entire south east wing of the Museum and covering over 35,000sq ft, display 1800 objects from the V&A’s collection of medieval and Renaissance treasures.
The project has been a collaboration between the V&A, London-based architects MUMA (McInnes Usher McKnight Architects), structural engineers Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners, services engineers Arup, contractors Holloway White Allom, graphic designers Holmes Wood, two lighting specialists Arup Lighting and dha design, environmental advisors and a host of specialist technicians from around the world, from display case manufacturers Glasbau Hahn to glass specialists Octatube.
THE ARCHITECTURAL SCHEME Throughout Future Plan the V&A has worked with the best architects and designers to restore modern design and innovation to the heart of the Museum. MUMA, a young architectural practice, is responsible for both the architecture and the design of the displays in the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries.
MUMA has reconfigured the existing 1909 Aston Webb galleries to create ten new inter-linked galleries that enable the visitor to walk through the whole suite chronologically or enter at various points. The design includes a new central orientation hub with floating staircase and lift which, for the first time, links all six levels of the Museum, including three floors of the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. The orientation hub also contains The Bonita Trust Study Area with computer terminals to access online resources, a timeline and an area with seating for rest and relaxation.
MUMA has created a new day-lit gallery from previously unused external space between two buildings. Structural glass beams, measuring up to nine metres create a spectacular roof which has been specially crafted in Holland by Octatube. The glass beams provide a translucent undulating roof which connects the semicircular façade at the back of the galleries to the façades opposite. Natural light pours into the new space where larger objects such as Pindar’s House, one of the few timber house fronts to have survived the Great Fire of London, are on display.
V&A curators have worked closely with MUMA to create magnificent displays, setting the objects in their original context. For example, ‘Splendour and Society’, the gallery exploring the rich decoration and furnishings of a domestic Renaissance interior, now physically overlooks ‘The Renaissance City’ below. The Treviso Balcony, an original marble carved balcony from about 1490, is installed onto a balcony inserted into the upper gallery. The Renaissance City is the largest gallery and displays Renaissance garden sculptures alongside a working fountain to create the atmosphere of a Renaissance courtyard.
MUMA has worked with Glasbau Hahn of Frankfurt, Germany, to create beautiful display cases that allow an uninterrupted view of the remarkable objects on display. The bases of the cases incorporate the same limestone as the plinths and floors of the galleries and almost invisible glass has been manufactured specifically to cover and protect the objects.
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN APPROACH The Medieval & Renaissance Galleries are exemplary of the V&A's innovative approach to using sustainable low energy solutions to achieve the highest possible quality environment for both visitors and the treasures on display. A comprehensive review conducted by the V&A highlighted environmental priorities for the galleries which allowed an efficient, passive solution to be developed. Thermal modelling was carried out by Arup to develop and optimise a control system which, by monitoring the external air conditions and intelligently controlling the internal ventilation and heating, is able to maintain target conditions. No mechanical cooling or humidification is provided which significantly reduces energy consumption and associated carbon emissions.
LIGHTING DESIGN MUMA has worked with Arup Lighting to manage the daylight levels in the new galleries whilst preserving the many light sensitive objects. For example there are shafts of sunlight to evoke the garden atmosphere of ‘The Renaissance City’; and filtered light in the gallery devoted to the church interior. In ‘Devotion and Display’ daylight is filtered through a series of translucent onyx window screens to suggest the light in medieval churches and provide a beautiful backdrop for displaying objects. Arup Lighting has worked closely with museums and art galleries around the world including the Royal Opera House, Tate Modern and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
MUMA has also worked with lighting consultants, dha design to provide artificial light both for objects on display and the architecture of the new galleries. Different light levels reinforce the spacial rhythm of the gallery sequence, whilst at the same time taking into consideration light-sensitive objects. dha design was founded in 1988 to bring the creativity of theatrical lighting techniques to architecture, exhibitions and events. Their other clients include the British Museum, the Royal Academy and the Imperial War Museum North.
GRAPHIC DESIGN Holmes Wood is responsible for all the graphic design in the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. This includes external hoardings, signage, labelling and orientation points. Their designs have been influenced by early book design, using gold leaf for the exhibition labels combined with a modern font. Holmes Wood is one of Britain’s leading designers of direction and information schemes and their other clients include the National Gallery, Tate Britain and the Tower of London.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners has worked closely with MUMA in particular on the new day-lit gallery and staircase in the central orientation hub. The innovative glass roof in the day-lit gallery is constructed from nine metre long translucent glass beams, supporting insulated glass roof panels, twisted into place to negotiate the gently curving slope of the roof. The staircase has been engineered in white concrete to have thin landings, slender columns and cantilevered glass balustrades to minimise the visual impact on the historic building. Founded in 1985, Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners is an international engineering design firm and since 2002 has been working on gallery projects for the V&A’s FuturePlan.
CONTRACTOR Holloway White Allom is the contractor for the V&A’s Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. Their work includes the re-ordering, refurbishment and fitting out of the galleries and the central orientation hub, its staircase and glass-enclosed lift. Other work includes demolitions and alterations, plaster repairs and installation of the new glazed roof areas and the specialist onyx screens. Holloway White Allom has 130 years’ experience of building and renovating heritage sites including the recent renovation of Admiralty Arch and the creation of a new livery hall for the Haberdashers' Company in London.
ARCHITECTS MUMA was founded in 2000 by Stuart McKnight, Simon Usher and Gillian McInnes who met when they studied together at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow. Since 2000 MUMA have built up a diverse portfolio of award winning work including the extension and refurbishment of the original Grade 2 listed Newlyn Art Gallery, the conversion of a redundant telephone exchange in Penzance into a contemporary art gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts Restaurant. Other current projects include a new arts centre for the Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts at the University of Bath and alterations to and extension of The Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
MUMA were selected as the designers of the new Medieval & Renaissance Galleries in 2003, following an international architectural design competition. They have also worked with the V&A to refurbish and extend the Museum’s original refreshment rooms in the Morris, Poynter and Gamble Rooms providing a new café on the north side of the garden.
Project Credits Architect and designer: MUMA Project Managers: Lend Lease / March Consulting Services engineers: Arup Structural engineers: Dewhurst MacFarlane and Partners Contractor: Holloway White Allom Graphic designers: Holmes Wood Day light consultants: Arup Lighting Artificial light consultants: dha design Specialist casemaker: Glasbau Hahn Historic building consultant: Julian Harrap Architects Cost consultant: Davis Langdon Acoustician: Sound Space Design
