National Maritime Museum, Cornwall
About the Project
- Principal designer: MJ Long and Rolfe Kentish
- Client: South
West of England Regional
Development Agency - Principal contractor: Interserve Project Services
- Contract value: £28 million
The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is a world-class attraction designed to reflect the historic traditions of the area with dramatic internal spaces that are themselves part of the exhibition displays.
Designed to blend with and enhance the surroundings, the harbourside building's exterior oak-cladding reflects the history of wooden boat sheds in the area, while its shape, form and orientation take full account of its location between Falmouth's historic buildings and the ships and warehouses to be found in the docks.
A combination of key skills was brought into play in the design and construction of the Museum, including architects, builders, curators, woodworkers, artists, designers, shipwrights, writers, film-makers, digital imagers and computer programmers.
Construction of the Museum posed a number of interesting technical and environmental challenges, including building part of the Museum over the dock wall into the harbour, constructing a gallery below sea level and developing a design that could use the natural environment to assist in controlling the internal conditions of the galleries to reduce energy usage.
The judges said:
"A striking combination of exhibits, design and materials."