Heritage Unlocked - Flipbook - Page 11
Unlocking heritage
Clare Wright
‘We see existing
elements... not as
constraints, but as
a jumping-off point
for reciprocity and
transformation’
In many ways, historic buildings are like
puzzles to be solved: an unexpected
move here or there can reap huge
dividends and unlock solutions that had
hitherto seemed out of reach. More often
than not, the solution turns out not to be
a ‘statement’ piece of architecture, but
something more subtle and rewarding.
We see existing elements and
conditions not as constraints, but as a
jumping-off point for reciprocity and
transformation, the new emerging out
of the old to generate unexpected
synergies and breathe life into
assemblages created over time. In
unlocking heritage, we combine
robustness, delicacy, craft and, perhaps
most especially, the need for legibility
that does not equivocate between the
historical and the contemporary,
treating both as different but equal parts
in a complex and evolving narrative.
For Wright & Wright, making
buildings that work functionally,
socially and culturally is a deeply rooted
imperative. Through a body of work that
now spans over 30 years, encompassing
many sensitive historic sites, we have
learned how heritage can enrich the
quality of the built environment and
experience of users.
At the Museum of the Home in east
London, working within the framework
of the existing building fabric - in this
case an 18th century almshouse - proved
the key to unlocking the project.
Originally, the almshouse was designed
as an ensemble of cellular residences,
but over the years, walls and floors had
been removed to accommodate visitor
circulation, compromising its structural
integrity. Stabilising the existing fabric
preserved the building, while minor
excavation in the basement and opening
up into the roof, created new space for
display and study, effectively doubling
the amount of public space on offer.
Carefully turning the building inside
out, through strategic moves and
discreetly stitching in new parts,
resolved long-standing problems,
making the museum fit for purpose
again. This transformational synthesis
of new and old reflected a reframed
curatorial approach based on making
the museum more immersive with
appeal for a wider audience. In effect,
the architectural strategy catalysed new
possibilities for display, engagement and
education, while reinvigorating and
augmenting the historic spaces.
At St John’s College, Oxford, for over
40 years, the President and Fellows had
been looking for a way to extend the
Laudian Library in the 17th century
Canterbury Quadrangle, one of the
nation’s most significant examples of
Baroque architecture. We designed a
new Study Centre which is connected to
Canterbury Quad but can also be read
autonomously as a new building in its
own right.
Key to the project was the discovery
of the Otranto Passage. Though it
sounds as if it should feature in a tale by
Edgar Allan Poe, it is a long, thin hidden
space in Canterbury Quad that was
created because of a change of plan
during the original building
construction. Now revealed and
refurbished, with the Study Centre, it
forms a new route that connects 20th
and 21st college development with the
College’s 17th century historic core.
Thus, the Study Centre is both an end in
itself and a component in a larger formal
and spatial sequence that activates new
ways of experiencing the College
buildings and landscape, strengthening
links between different eras.
In responding to historic buildings,
our approach is both pragmatic and
contextual, drawing on the lessons and
exemplars of the past. But we also have
the confidence to determine what kind
of interventions might be required to
unlock and invigorate heritage and
make it fit for a new future.
Opposite: Otranto Passage at
St John’s College, Oxford, now
revealed and refurbished
Unlocking Heritage
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