Good news for design lovers. The Design Museum London 1989 founded by Sir Terence Conran reopened its doors in a new space on Kensington High Street, designed by architect John Pawson.
The former museum located in a warehouse in Shad Thames was already a premium address to experience contemporary design in its diverse facets. In its almost three decades it hosts plenty of innovative and controversial exhibitions, including shows dedicated to the work of Zaha Hadid, Hussein Chayalan, Dieter Rams, Ettore Sottsass, Sir Paul Smith, Christian Louboutin and Richard Rodgers.
The museum sits on Kensington High Street next to the southern entrance to Holland Park and forms the heart of the new Holland Green residential development. It combines architecture, product design, technology, graphics and fashion to investigate the form, function and meaning of the world around us.
The complex renovation of the museum saw OMA led by Reinier de Graaf, Allies and Morrison, Arup and John Pawson work together to bring this landmark of post-war British architecture back into use.
Inside the museum, visitors find themselves in a central atrium with striking views up to the iconic hyperbolic paraboloid roof. The stunning concrete roof spans the length of the building, rising on the two opposing corners to create a manta ray-like structure above. Galleries, learning spaces, café, events space and a shop are arranged like an opencast mine around the main atrium, allowing visitors to navigate the space with ease and to discover everything the building has to offer by simply walking up its oak staircases.