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Project: White Cube: Mason's Yard
Publication: ark Magazine
Date: June 2008
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-First prize in the category "New buildings"-
The narrow courtyard in London's St.James district used to be the site of and electric power substation. This has now been superceded by a clear-cut gallery building featuring a distinctly classic modern design. According to the company running the gallery, this is the first new solitary building to go up in the district for 30 years.
In order to emphasize the contrast with the surrounding brick buildings, MRJ Rundell Associates have designed their new structure as a white plastered block on a fair-faced concrete basement storey. The write: "The choice of plaster for the facade was crucial to the project's success, as this is the only material which enables a seamless surface finish that conceals every trace of the construction process." The architects did not even permit expansion joints on the facade - nothing foreign to their concept was to detract from the appearance.
Behind the plaster facade is a steel construction, any stress-induced deformation of which could easily have led to cracks in the plaster. The facade thus takes the form of a rigid shell which is fixed to the building structure via flexible connections, allowing the two elements to move independently of one another.
Publication: ark Magazine
Date: June 2008
Download PDF
White Cube, Mason's Yard in London, GB
-First prize in the category "New buildings"-
The narrow courtyard in London's St.James district used to be the site of and electric power substation. This has now been superceded by a clear-cut gallery building featuring a distinctly classic modern design. According to the company running the gallery, this is the first new solitary building to go up in the district for 30 years.
In order to emphasize the contrast with the surrounding brick buildings, MRJ Rundell Associates have designed their new structure as a white plastered block on a fair-faced concrete basement storey. The write: "The choice of plaster for the facade was crucial to the project's success, as this is the only material which enables a seamless surface finish that conceals every trace of the construction process." The architects did not even permit expansion joints on the facade - nothing foreign to their concept was to detract from the appearance.
Behind the plaster facade is a steel construction, any stress-induced deformation of which could easily have led to cracks in the plaster. The facade thus takes the form of a rigid shell which is fixed to the building structure via flexible connections, allowing the two elements to move independently of one another.
