Former site of the Royal Mint at Tower Hill
David Chipperfield Architects was appointed to design a new embassy for China on the site of the former Royal Mint.
The current embassy is located opposite RIBA's headquarters at 49 Portland Square, but China announced plans two years ago to move to a new location in the capital.
China rebuilt its current embassy in the early 1980s
China purchased land near the Tower of London from developer Delta in 2018 and said in a statement: "The plot is located in an important urban location in the eastern part of the city, adjacent to the Tower of London. It contains several existing structures many with outstanding architectural value.
"The project requires serious reconsidering and reuse of the site's existing buildings to create a contemporary embassy infrastructure that will form an important part of London's diplomatic establishment."
James Johnson and Robert Smirke will list it as a Grade II* neoclassical building under the Grade II Conservation Plan, while the 1980s building will be converted into staff quarters and the building on the southern boundary wall will become the Visa Office.
About David Chipperfield Architects:
Before founding his own firm in 1985, David Chipperfield studied architecture at the Kingston School of Art and the Architectural Association of London School of Architecture. He is a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the German Institute of Architecture on the Bund. His honours include the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2009 and the Knight of the Order of Architecture Service in the United Kingdom and Germany in 2010. In 2011, he received the RIBA Royal Architecture Gold Medal and in 2013 received the Japan Fine Arts Association's The Empire emperor in recognition of his life's work.
In addition to his design work, David Chipperfield has lectured at architecture schools around the world. In 2012, he curated the 13th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, with the theme "Common Ground". He served as a Rolex mentor and architectural director for the Protégé Arts Initiative during the 2016-17 period. He founded FundaciónRIA in 2017, a private, non-profit entity dedicated to the meaningful economic, environmental and cultural development of Galicia, Spain.
David Chipperfield Architect Works
Natural History Museum
Zhejiang Province, China
Zhejiang National History Museum is located in Anji County, and the overall red exhibition hall has opened in early 2019
The design concept of "building on a hillside" connects 8 independent buildings through a zigzag corridor. Basically maintaining the real mountains and real water of the plot, the natural original ecology, built according to the slope terrain, reducing the amount of excavation, the highest and lowest floor level of the building is 12 meters, and it is a "museum that grows in nature".
West Bund Art Museum
Shanghai, China
The West Bund Art Museum is located on the northwest bank of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, on the 8.5-kilometer-long riverside belt. The Riverside Pedestrian Space, which connects Xuhui District with the Bund Historical and Cultural Landscape Area, is an important part of the West Bund Master Plan, which aims to transform the former industrial area covering an area of more than 9 square kilometers into an emerging cultural area.
Between the three exhibition hall volumes, a lower roof covers the entire atrium and extends outward, forming a cantilevered structure facing the Huangpu River and the road. On both the east and west sides, the roof is supported by huge tapered columns that indicate the entrance to the building. The three main masses are wrapped in translucent, jade-like glass, giving the building a milky texture. The façade material brings colourful daylight into the building and brilliantly illuminated at night, contrasting with the smooth textured paint finish of the cantilevered roof. At the outer end of each rotating exhibition hall, huge transparent glass windows are arranged, providing visitors with panoramic views of the park, the Huangpu River and the cityscape.
FURLA Duomo store
Milan, Italy
David Chipperfield's concept includes an upgrade to the flagship store in this iconic part of Milan, as well as the creation of the project inspired by the works of two famous Italian architects Carlo Scarpa or Angelo Mangiarotti.
The flagship store consists of two floors, connected upstairs and downstairs by a sculptural staircase, and an adjacent brand new space that will host a number of small special events and popular exhibitions. David Chipperfield conceived and designed a number of rather unique private rooms, connecting the interior and exterior spaces through ornate arches.
Rolex headquarters
United States
The 165,000-square-foot (15,329㎡) building contains a new office area for Rolex employees, buildings and tenants, as well as a Rolex retail store on the ground floor. The first renderings of the project show five vertically stacked blocks that are offset from each other, leaving room for outdoor balconies and roof gardens. According to the architects, the building will bring a rich brand experience that reflects the different dimensions of the company's value and becomes an important symbol of Rolex's commitment to quality, precision and excellence.
James Simon Art Gallery
Berlin
The James Simon Art Gallery is located between the Kupfer Canal and the New Museum as an extension of the Friedrich August Stuhler-designed Pey Join Museum and a new entrance to Museum Island. The project aims to reorganize the public spatial relationship between the Pey Franchise Museum and the new museum, and to optimize the larger urban space in architectural form.
It creates a new urban image for Museum Island facing the Luster Gardens, Schloss Bridge and the Linden street side, and assumes the responsibility of linking existing historic buildings. A tall building pedestal is arranged along the canal, echoing the spectacular pedestal of the Pey Franchise Museum and maintaining a level consistent with the exhibition space of the Pey Franchise Museum. The building also continues the colonnade designed by Stuhler and extends to the new museum, which in turn encloses the courtyard. Much of the colonnade space, especially the southwest side facing the canal, will be open all day long, allowing the vibrancy of Museum Island's public space to continue. At the same time, the architect also created a spatial connection with the ancient road along the river.