Royal Academy London Architecture, Building, Pictures, Phone, Location, Photo Key Building on Paccadilly, West End, London, England, UK e-architect			World Architecture : index Architecture News World Buildings
Royal Academy London : Architecture Information + Images
Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, west end, central London 1768 Sir William Chambers Royal Academy of Arts, London: Burlington House Royal Academy of Arts, London Address: 1 Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD Telephone: 020 7300 8000 Nearest tube stations: Piccadilly Circus or Green Park Sackler Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK 1985-91 Foster + Partners The practice’s first opportunity to work within an historical building, the commission for the Sackler Galleries demonstrates how contemporary interventions can enhance the old by relying on the sensitive juxtaposition rather than historical pastiche. The key to unlocking the design solution was the rediscovery of the lightwell between Burlington House and the Victorian extension, into which a new lift and staircase were inserted. The commission for the Sackler Galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts provided the practice with its first opportunity to work within a historical building. Although perceived by the visitor as a single entity, the Royal Academy actually consists of two buildings: the original Palladian house, converted by Lord Burlington in the eighteenth century, and a subsequent Victorian gallery behind, linked by a grand central staircase. The project brief required the replacement of the undistinguished nineteenth-century Diploma Galleries at the top of Burlington House and the improvement of access routes through the building. The project demonstrates how contemporary interventions can enhance the old by relying on the sensitive juxtaposition rather than historical pastiche. The key to unlocking the design solution was the rediscovery of the lightwell between Burlington House and the Victorian extension, into which a new lift and staircase were inserted. In the process redundant historical accretions were peeled away, revealing the garden facade of Burlington House for the first time in over a century. Cleaned and repaired, this elevation contrasts strikingly with the Victorian structure and the free-standing new insertions. The new work is demonstratively of its own time, using modern materials for modern ends, but it also enables a rediscovery of the potential of Burlington House and the Victorian galleries, much of which had become inaccessible over time. In addition to this historical reclamation, the Sackler Galleries achieved new environmental standards, allowing the Academy to meet the exacting criteria set by international exhibitions. These include a glazed reception area incorporating the parapet of the Victorian galleries. Sculpture from the Academys permanent collection is displayed along this simultaneously modern and antique route, most notably Michelangelo's tondo of the Virgin and Child with the Infant St John, powerfully revealing a contrast between old and new. The Royal Academy was the first in a line of projects demonstrating a clear philosophy about contemporary interventions in historical structures, which continued with the Reichstag in Berlin and the Great Court at the British Museum. Client: Royal Academy of Arts Consultants: YRM Anthony Hunt Associates Nick Green Albert Will, Davis Langdon and Everest, James R Briggs Associates, George Sexton Associates Sackler Galleries London information from Foster + Partners Royal Academy of Arts : building at 6 Burlington Gardens Sackler Galleries, Royal Academy, Piccadilly, central-west London 1989-91 Foster Associates £5.2m Royal Academy Sackler Galleries architects : Foster Associates Building near to the Royal Academy of Arts London - Piccadilly Circus: Piccadilly Building London Architect London Buildings Royal Courts of Justice London Royal Opera House London Contemporary Architects Royal Academy of Arts Architecture Exhibition : Andrea Palladio Royal Academy London images - scanned photos © Isabelle Lomholt World Architecture: e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe Buildings / photos for the Piccadilly London Architecture page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk Royal Academy of Arts London - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt Website : www.royalacademy.org.uk			Key London Buildings: Chelsea Barracks British Museum Expansion V & A Gallery British Library Lloyds Building London Olympic Stadium Natural History Museum St Paul's Cathedral Tate Modern Key Links: Skyscrapers Architecture Studios New Houses London Architects London Architecture