Henry Moore Institute

For this post I'm re-looking at a building that I've always known but possibly overlooked. 
The simple façade is extremely well executed and is prominent yet low key, not in competition with the neighbouring grandeur of the Library and Town Hall but a stand alone example of quality architecture. The architects have succeeded at creating something from nothing and something very special at that.

One approach to the site would have been to replace or completely hide the existing gable and build a new façade which I'm sure would have been perfectly adequate, however, what they have done is something much more interesting by interacting with the gable wall. The highly polished marble has the same quality of workmanship and quality as the red brick façade of the original building yet works well in contrast to the rough and unrefined gable wall. The tall entranceway which cuts into the block of marble has the same exaggerated proportions of the doorways on the redbrick face, the teeth-like indents of the small upper windows give a greater scale to the wall slab and entrance way and again replicate the forms seen on the main building.


The form of the building is also very apt for its purpose of a gallery, sculpting itself to the gable wall, framed against the blank render and displayed upon a raised plinth. Though the building is very low-key the glittering and shining marble sets it apart from the other stone and brick buildings along the row, defining itself in a different way to surroundings but with equal weight and importance. In a more literal sense, the buildings façade draws on the clean simple lines and use of marble seen in Henry Moores own work which the building houses.


I'm really not sure about copyright...all the images on this page are from leodis.net [a fantastic website I may have to do my next post on] or from google maps street view.
The architects website [www.dixonjones.co.uk/www/dixon_jones.html] has an eight frame summary of the project. Some information on the development of the site leading up to the present facade visit [www.leodis.net/discovery/discovery.asp?page=20031028_930446804&topic=2003114_561367214&subsection=2003114_579372585] also the institutes web address [www.henry-moore.org/hmi]