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Diller Scofidio + Renfro reveals design for London Centre for Music

Twisted Architecture

Diller Scofidio + Renfro reveals design for London Centre for Music

After winning a competition in 2017, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has released new renderings of its conceptual design for a London Centre for Music. The new building is backed by a group of local institutions, including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Barbican.

The £288 million structure will rise like a twisted block on the site where the Museum of London now stands. The new building reinterprets the idea of a vertical campus that DS+R used in the Vagelos Education Center for Columbia University in New York City. Performance and rehearsal spaces are stacked with lobbies and other public areas mixed in between, and a staircase with seating will wrap around the building to tie it all together. Many spaces are swathed in uniform wood paneling, as in the firm’s design for New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and many rooms are oriented toward a window wall displaying a view over the city, similar to the computer space in Boston’s ICA, also by the firm.

Rendering of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's design for the London Centre for Music
The main space is a 2,000-seat concert hall. (Courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro)

The exterior finishes are abstracted in the renderings, giving the building a largely transparent appearance, but there are apparent hints at slatted wood siding and a twisted glass facade.

Work on the new building can only begin after the Museum of London vacates the site in 2023, and construction is expected to take a further four years after that.


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