RIBA tries again with North centre opening
The Royal Institute of British Architects has set a date of 17 June for the opening of its long-awaited national architecture centre at Mann Island in Liverpool.
Plans for the 10,000 sq ft RIBA North facility at the Liverpool waterfront were first revealed in 2013, with an initial commitment to open in late 2014.
However, the scheme experienced early delays due to resourcing other projects, and then in the later stages suffered due to issues over the quality of the finish of the flooring, according to a statement from RIBA.
Last year RIBA announced it would open in August 2016, a deadline it missed.
Broadway Malyan is the architect, ISG is the contractor. RBH Properties is the landlord, having bought the commercial units from Mann Island developer Neptune.
No images have been released of the centre.
RIBA North is set to include the City Gallery, a space for visitors to learn more about Liverpool’s past, present and future, as well as the processes involved in urban development and the evolution of the built environment.
RIBA North’s City Gallery includes a digital city model, an interactive 3d model which tells a variety of stories about Liverpool and the surrounding area. It is also a professional tool, which can be used by developers, architects and planners to host public consultations, anticipate the impact of future development, and encourage the best design approaches.
Alongside this permanent display, RIBA North will host a programme of temporary exhibitions and offer the opportunity to view historic RIBA collections.
The opening exhibition is due to be ‘Liverpool(e): Mover, Shaker, Architectural Risk-Taker’, which celebrates Liverpool’s architectural history, and is funded by a £67,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant.
Jane Duncan, RIBA president, said: “We are delighted to open RIBA North, a new national architecture centre for the UK, this summer. We are particularly proud to strengthen our cultural and creative offering in the North of England, and to enable many more people to explore and understand the enormous impact that architecture and design has on all our lives.
“At RIBA North, we have a building with museum conditions which will offer a magnificent opportunity to view RIBA’s world-renowned historic collections showing hundreds of years of the UK’s extraordinary architectural history.”
Fantastic. Long overdue. Just another addition to the growing list of world class cultural facilities on offer in Liverpool City Centre.
By LiverLass
Well done Liverpool. Long overdue.
Time for a similar facility in Manchester given its global influence on architecture & urban planning. Now alas URBIS is no more.
By Mark Hammill
Hammill – Liverpool has got something we want. Not fair! We should have it too.
Manchester – an inferiority complex masquerading as a superiority complex.
By Deebee
whoa whoa whoa DeeBee (that’s english for stop a horse)
Mark was saying well done to Liverpool and just suggested that it would be nice to have the same in Manchester. Why unleash the fury here?
By Anonymous
What is Manchester’s current “global influence on architecture & urban planning” out of interest? Genuine question, not trying to antagonise.
By Nordyne
Because, it’s always the same. We’ll have your TV companies. Your games industry. Your medical. We’ll have your Commonwealth Games bid off you thank you very much. We’ll have your low-cost airline routes. We’ll have railway signalling office. We’ll have your wealth management. We’ll have all the logistics benefits of having a port by building inland ports using a canal we built so we don’t have to use your port. We’ll get the NWDA to promote office relocations away from your city to ‘ours’. We’ll have your concerts and we’re not too happy to let you have tourism either to be honest. We’ll have your post-production. Your banks. But you can keep your universities as long as they are lower in the rankings than ours. But don’t worry, you’ve got the Grand National. For now.
By Deebee