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Key Benson + Forsyth building
Museum of Scotland - details further down page
photo © adrian welch
Unbuilt Buildings
Benson + Forsyth project - Scottish Parliament Competition, Edinburgh, Scotland
Cowgatehead Library Project, Edinburgh, Scotland
Royal College of Surgeons - New Building, Edinburgh, Scotland
Buildings by Benson + Forsyth Architects:
Beamish Museum - Visitor Centre, County Durham, northeast England
Architecture Competition - winner announcement Jun 2006
House, Islington, London [AR1251]
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Maiden Lane Estate, London
1989
Monument to Time, Oshima, Japan [AR1168]
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National Gallery of Ireland Extension - Millenium Wing, Dublin, Ireland
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Oshima Time Temple, Oshima, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
1991-93
Victoria Transport Interchange project, London
2007-18
Wilkinson Eyre with Benson + Forsyth & Patrick Lynch
Watford FC stadium, Watford, Hertfordshire, southeast England
2007-
More projects online soon
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: 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.
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
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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
Website: www.benson-forsyth.co.uk
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