The Parabola Book

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THE PARABOLAModern History


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TH E PARABOL A

Kensington High Street


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CON TEN TS

INTRODUCTION 01bySir Stuart Lipton

VISION & PRINC IPLES 02

THE PARABOLA SITE PLAN 14

Proj ect Essay s

THE SPIRIT OF THE TIME 16byLord Cunliffe of HeadleyA leading member of the originalarchitectural team in 1958

MODERN HISTORY 18byReinier de GraafPartner of the Office forMetropolitan Architecture (OMA)

URBAN SCULPTURE 20byPaul FinchThe Architectural Review

DESIGN MUSEUM 22byDeyan SudjicDirector,The Design Museum

CONTACTS & TEAM 24

TH E PARABOL A

Kensington High StreetIN TRODU CTION

Renovating a neglected wonder

Sir Stuart LiptonChelsfield Partners

When we purchased the site of the formerCommonwealth Institute we saw the opportunity ofbringing back to life the essence of the originalconcept with the Parabola at its heart.The Parabola,the tent like structure, has been empty for nearly tenyears and it deserves a new life. Our vision is to placethe Parabola as a cherished piece in the context ofnew buildings designed in the same spirit of boldnessand ingenuity that was the basis of the Parabolasdesign thesis.

The Parabolas initial construction was boldfor 1960 with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof. Designs atthe time only permitted half of the concrete roofconstruction to be built with the remaining roof built

traditionally.The leanness of the original budget willbe in sharp contrast to the quality proposed for therefurbishment of the building.

The site is demanding; Kensington HighStreet is facing competition from a new shoppingcentre at White City, the historical context and thebeauty of Holland Park have to be respected.We commissioned an architectural competition with anumber of experts as panel members and chose OMAas architects based on their design skill andcommitment to revitalising the Parabola.

After two years of ownership and a forexamination of the site we feel ready to make aplanning application.The new buildings form ashape respect the Parabola and give it greater imwithin its surroundings.They respond to the oridesign concepts of boldness which the Parabolabrought to Kensington.

The Design Museum has worked closewith us to enable it to occupy the Parabola withinternal changes which allow the external imagethe building to remain virtually unchanged withinterior that fits the Museums goals for the futu

The landscape is designed by West 8architects and reflects both the spirit of the existpark and a new idiom engulfing the three residebuildings.The project will take its place in therevitalisation of Kensington High Street bringin400,000 people annually to the museum andrenovating a neglected wonder to resume its icoposition on the High Street.


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The Design Museum will bring400,000 visitors to the Parabola, giving a neglectedLondon icon new life and purpose.

TH E EXH IBITION BU IL DIN GVISION & PRIN CIPL ES

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The new buildings continue themodern spirit of the original, but are deliberatelyneutral so that the Parabola is dominant.

TH E RESIDEN TIAL BU IL DIN GS


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The High Street is re-connected to the Parabola.The new buildings and restoration will bring residents,business and new possibilities to the area.

KEN SIN GTON H IGH STREET


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The tent in the park will be a culturaldestination for London and Europe. It will celebrateinnovation and design of the highest calibre.

TH E PARK


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World class architecture will continuethe tradition of modernity, respecting the past andcreating a sustainable future.

STON E F ACADES

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TH E PARABOL A SITE PL AN

PARK

GARDEN

HIGH STREET

EXHIBITION

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THE EXHIBITION BUILDING

To be occupied by the

Design Museum

The building will be refurbished

and renovated

100,000 sq ft floorspace

Intended uses: exhibition; events;

restaurant and caf; auditorium and

education; shop; offices; workshops

THE HIGH STREET BUILDING

Commercial ground floor + 7 floors of

residential units

Ground floor uses: facilities associated

with the Design Museum including

exhibition area, shop and tickets; and

a shop or restaurant and caf 23 residential units

THEGARDEN BUILDING

9 floors

38 residential units

THE PARK BUILDING

6 floors

11 residential units


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TH E SPIRIT OF TH E TIME

Reflections on 1958

Roger CunliffeLord Cunliffe of HeadleyA leading member of th e original architectural team

We post-war British architects wereinspired to build a brave new world: egalitarian,intelligent, refreshing and humane. But right into thelate 1950s, when this project began, we were stillconstrained by having to meet a huge demand, withlimited resources.The resulting architecture wasstrongly focused on the users. It had to be fit for theimmediate purpose simply that. Future reuse wasnot our foremost thought.

Since then, as an organisation theCommonwealth Institute has adapted to a rapidlychanging world, but the building has been unable tokeep up. Some years back it was abandoned: no onecould find a conventional way of keeping it viable,

even in a period of building boom. Something moreradical more innovative was needed.Two years ago the Ilchester Estate and

Chelsfield acquired the site.There was a marketreview and thorough research of the complexs history.Chelsfield then invited six eminent architectural firmsto discuss proposed approaches to the challenge, andselected OMA, an internationally renowned Dutchfirm which already had other projects in Britain.

The OMA concept is simple and restrabut bold where necessary. Constructive discussiwith English Heritage,The Royal Borough ofKensington & Chelsea and others have advancedesign, but without compromising its integrity.Opportunities not available to us fifty years ago been seized.That is rare and valuable.

Even for the time, the project had aniggardly budget. So our priorities had to be firsexhibition building, then the ancillary wing, andthe landscape.The design had to be pared to thminimum. Standards for access, health and safeenergy conservation were also much lower thenall counts a major upgrading is now needed.

Because of its size we had to place theexhibition building at the back of the site, anglepreserve the fine lime trees along the boundary.With its hypar roof, it became the tent in the pthough the immovable boundary wall blocked aunion.The building was also hard to see from th

High Street.Renewal calls for resources.The Chelsteam is of the highest calibre.The authorities anpublic have expressed their views; all want to secomplex brought to life again. No one under-rattask. But it will cost money, and the new developon the site will generate that.This time the budgmust not be skimped.

The Commonwealth Institute complexembodied the spirit of the time. I feel strongly this aspect of its cultural heritage adventure,innovation,can-do should be respected by whcomes next. OMAs proposals hearten me.Whilsdemonstrate the way cities are evolving in the 21century, they are also in tune with the spirit of thbuildings creation.

MODERN H ISTORY W d id d t i t th b ildi th


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MODERN H ISTORY

Reinier de GraafOMAPartner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Building in an urban context meansrespecting history. But, if the course of history is asequence of different (often clashing) periods, whatdoes one pay respect to? As architects we have oftenwondered if rather than preserving buildings or ur banenvironments in their original state,paying respectshould actually constitute the continuation of anevolution, which could lead to the improvement(or even correction) of a given context.

The Former Commonwealth Institute seemsto provide a unique opportunity in that direction.Built in the early 1960s, it represents a still undigestedperiod of our architectural history.The sixties arehistory without (yet) enjoying the respect normally paidto history.At the same time,experiments like the

former Commonwealth Institute continue to inspirethe work of many architects today (including our own).About a year ago, as part of a limited

competition to choose an architect, we presented ourfirst proposals for the site.The idea was simple: toretain the main exhibition building, demolish theadministration wing, and to fill the remaining spaceswith three residential blocks as the new setting for themain building, now re-named as the Parabola.

We decided to orient the new buildings thesame way as the Parabola: 45 degrees to the prevailingorientation of the urban fabric around it. From ourfirst acquaintance with the site there was somethingintriguing and mystical about the exhibitionbuildings orientation, deliberately at odds with itssurroundings, even partly at odds with itself almostlike an Islamic fragment that mysteriously got lost inthis part of West London.

We were all too aware that paying respect toand even reproducing a feature that at the time of itsconception constituted a deliberate break with itssurroundings would almost automatically create a riskof also reproducing the buildings perceivedcontextual indifference.

The style and shape of the three newbuildings are unequivocally modern: three cubes as adeliberate, neutral background, allowing the Parabolato be the main feature on display. However, whilst theorientation and the square footprint of the new

buildings echo the Parabola, they also, throughvariations in footprint and height like Russian dolls echo the different scales of the surrounding context.

In its new configuration the CommonwealthInstitute is no longer a singular building, but part of alarger ensemble.As much individual objects asurban fabric, the new buildings tie the Parabola intothe city (albeit retroactively). In their new setting theParabola and its surroundings are no longer oppositeends of the spectrum, but integral parts of a newbalance between the recent and older history of thispart of London.

U RBAN SCU L PTU RE The architectural approach has to deal


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U RBAN SCU L PTU RE

Paul FinchThe Architectural Review

London is,on the whole,an unplanned city.But the British obsession with heritage means that theaccidental or the informal can take on the status of theplanned,to be respected and acknowledged in spite of(or perhaps even because of) a particular history.

Thus it is with the Parabola.The sites mainvirtue at the time of construction was availability, plusproximity to the old Imperial Institute.The designitself represented a combination of functionalism,lightweight construction and modernity, acontemporary response as different as possible to theheavyweight Imperial Institute it replaced.

OMAs proposition makes sense of the site.The composition of the three apartment buildings,andwhat will become the new home for the Design

Museum,produces a piece of urban sculpture, unusualin London and only possible because of the history ofthis site.It is many years since London saw the plannedcreation of an arts building along with a residentialdevelopment.The last occasion,albeit on a much largerscale,was the Barbican in the City of London.

Unlike the Barbican, the KensingtonHigh Street site will not be sealed off from the street,but will create an inviting new environment; andunlike the Barbican, it is not reliant on its ownlandscape (though this will form an important part ofthe development) but has a major relationship withHolland Park next door.

The architectural approach has to dealvery different conditions in relation to aspect andprospect,differing scales,a break in the conventistreet elevation,access to a gem of a park,and of to the memory of the site and its key building.

The design will provoke discussion; donew blocks genuflect too much to that accidentaoriginal site planning? How do they relate toadjacent residential mansion blocks?What is threlationship to the park, and so on.These are thcommonplaces of architectural debate anddiscussion, but are no less important for that. Incase of OMA, the generation of the proposal hasfrom a profound understanding of architecturalrelationships.They understand very well theimportance of focusing on the essential and notbecoming overwhelmed by the challenge ofcombining the contemporary with the historical

What was for two decades an urbanproblem is at last a focus for new purpose a new

architectural lease of life.

DESIGN MU SEU M The Parabola will solve the museums most


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DESIGN MU SEU M

Deyan SudjicDirector,The Design Museum

After twenty successful years in Southwarkthe Design Museum is ready to move to the next stagein its development.A bigger,better Design Museumwill give London a focus for exploring design andarchitecture. More than just a tourist attraction,it willbe a place that will change the way the worldunderstands design.And if it can do that it will changethe way the world sees London.

Twenty years ago Sir Terence Conranestablished the museum as a project within the VictoriaandAlbert Museum and subsequently gave it a buildingof its own. He believed it was time to remind Britainthat design was more than a matter of aesthetics.Design in the museums view depends on anunderstanding of the complex process that turns an

idea into a manufactured object.Today around 240,000 visitors come to themuseum every year.The museum is always brimmingwith people:children learning how to make a model inthe education centre; exhibition visitors getting insidethe mind of an architect such as Zaha Hadid,a fashiondesigner like Hussein Chalayan,or a graphic designerof the calibre of Alan Fletcher. Look behind the scenesand you will find our collection,a record of the keydesigns that have made the modern world.

The Parabola will solve the museum s mostpressing problem:lack of space.With three times asmuch space,the museum will have more room forexhibitions, to display its permanent collection and torun an exciting programme of public engagement.Ourstudies suggest we can attract an audience of 400,000visitors a year.

The opportunity is one we cannot miss.What makes the the Parabola so exciting as a new homefor the Design Museum is that it will allow us to createa new kind of museum, by giving a new lease of life to akey landmark from the 1960s.It is the chance to bringan important listed building with a troubled past backinto use for the long term.

In the last decade the concept oftransforming a 19th century industrial building into acontemporary cultural space has become aconventional response.The Parabola offers the chanceto go much further and seize the opportunity toredefine the nature of a cultural space.

As Britain comes to understand that itseconomic future lies in the creative industries,design is more important than ever.An expandedDesign Museum is set to play a vital role in makingthe most of the contribution that design can make tothe economy and society at large.The new DesignMuseum will consolidate Londons claim to be aworldwide hub for design.

TH E PARABOL A 2009 WWW.CHELSFIELD.COM


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The project team

ARCHITECT

Office for Metropolitan

Architecture

ARCHITECTURAL

CONSULTANT

Lord Cunliffe of Headley

LANDSCAPE

ARCHITECT

West 8

STRUCTURAL

ENGINEER

Arup

SERVICES

ENGINEER

Arup

Contact

CHELSFIELD PARTNERS

Telephone +44 (0)20 7290 2388

[email protected]

67 Brook Street

London W1K 4NJ

TRANSPORT

CONSULTANT

Arup

SUSTAINABILITY

CONSULTANT

Arup

ACCESSIBILITY

CONSULTANTS

David Bonnet

Associates

PLANNING

CONSULTANT

DP9

HERITAGE

CONSULTANT

Montagu Evans

ENVIRONMENTAL

CONSULTANT

RPS

DAYLIGHT/SUNLIGHT

CONSULTANT

GIA

CONSTRUCTION

CONSULTANTS

Mace

COMMUNITY

RELATIONS

Four Communications

George Cochrane

PUBLIC

RELATIONS

Bolton & Quinn

Kensington High Street IIchester Estates & Chelsfield Partners WWW.THEPARABOLA-KENSINGTON.CO.UK

TH E PARABOL A

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IMAGE CREDITS

Page 16

Henk SnoekRIBA Library

Photographs Collection

DESIGNED BY

Small

Unit 9 16-30 Provost Street

London N1 7NG

Telephone +44 (0)20 7490 1049

www.studiosmall.com

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Kensington High Street


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