Benson + Forsyth Address: 37d Mildmay Grove North, London
Contact: +44 0207 359 0288

Key Benson + Forsyth building : Museum of Scotland - featured below

Benson + Forsyth Competition: Scottish Parliament


Benson + Forsyth unbuilt building: Cowgatehead Library Project


Benson + Forsyth unbuilt building : Royal College of Surgeons - New Building


Benson + Forsyth Building News:
Watford FC stadium, Watford, Hertfordshire
2007-

Victoria Transport Interchange project, London
2007-18
Wilkinson Eyre with Benson + Forsyth & Patrick Lynch

Beamish Museum - Visitor Centre, County Durham, northeast England
Architecture Competition - winner announcement Jun 2006

Buildings by Benson + Forsyth Architects:
National Gallery of Ireland Extension - Millenium Wing, Dublin, Eire

House, Islington, London AR1251

Monument to Time, Oshima, Japan AR1168

Maiden Lane Estate, London: 1989

Oshima Time Temple, Oshima, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
1991-93

Benson + Forsyth - Contact Info




Key Benson + Forsyth building:
Museum of Scotland - Extension
Chambers St, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1999

Fantastically rich assemblage of spaces/forms with references to Modernism and the immediate context of the Old Town. This is Benson + Forsyth's first major building and was followed up by their similar Museum building in Dublin.

Museum of Scotland: Competition
Benson & Forsyth won the competition - judged by likes of Hans Hollein and Eva Jiricna - to design an extension in 1991.

The Museum of Scotland has excited much controversy, from displeasing Prince Charles at competition stage, to its exclusion from the 1999 RIBA Special Category Award Shortlist and later parachuting in to the 1999 RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist, for which it received the Runner-up Award.

Numerous letters appeared in the architectural press about this situation with Alan Dunlop of Glaswegian practice Gordon Murray + Alan Dunlop irritating some with his claim that the building was not world-class, and project architect Peter Wilson lambasting both Mr Dunlop and Sebastian Tombs - secretary of the RIAS and in charge of the three-person judging panel - for not giving the new Museum of Scotland more credit.


Museum of Scotland: image supplied by Benson & Forsyth Architects

Museum of Scotland: Architecture
Architecturally much has been made of this Benson & Forsyth building relating to Edinburgh Castle, especially the Half Moon Battery, but most visitors will rarely see the two together, though a great view of Edinburgh Castle can be had on the Museum's roof, and vice versa.


Museum of Scotland: image supplied © Adrian Welch

Entry is signified by the sentinel-like rotunda on the corner of Chambers Street. Benson & Forsyth have introduced a distinct architectural promenade that used to start with the potent imagery of a huge table made from a single slice of tree trunk at the base of the corner tower (now just a 'space').

In summary this building has stirred up the Scottish architectural scene and created much-needed creativity within Edinburgh's often overbearingly conservative society. The building acts as a beacon - even to the many who disparage it for being over-worked - for contemporary architecture, for bravely seeking to add to Edinburgh's legacy rather than slowly kill it by preservation.

Museum of Scotland - Building Cost: Est. £40-60m

The style of the Museum of Scotland is very evident in the slightly later building by Benson + Forsyth in Eire:
National Gallery of Ireland Millenium Wing
Clare Street, Dublin
2001

More Scottish Architects: Scottish Architecture




Edinburgh Tours : Architecture Walking Tours

Architecture Books

Comments or building suggestions / photos for the Benson + Forsyth Architects page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk

Benson + Forsyth buildings - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt