Natural History Museum, Hintz Hall Opening
July 2017
Niall attended the Natural History Museum VIP opening of Hintze Hall and the introduction of Hope – the new blue whale skeleton suspended from Alfred Waterhouse’s wrought iron roof structure.
This new exhibit marks a new chapter in the Museum’s engagement with the public on scientific issues. Meanwhile Dippy the Dinosaur has embarked on a UK-wide tour which will culminate in the skeleton being cast in bronze before taking up its new home in the NMLA-designed Museum grounds.
The first phase of this project involves the restoration and introduction of accessibility to the Museum’s famous main entrance and is due to complete in November 2017.
Athletes Occupy Olympic Housing
August 2012
In the run up to the London Olympics, the Athletes’ Village housing block N15, is now occupied with athletes’ preparing for the games. Niall McLaughlin Architects have designed the external skin of the housing block on a ‘chassis’ designed by Glen Howells. The facade samples fragments of the Elgin Marbles, scanned from the British Museum and converted into 3D pre-cast panels depicting galloping horses from the Parthenon Frieze.
Niall McLaughlin commented on the practice’s approach to the unusual commission in Building Design. ‘I was very interested in the principle of the facade being delaminated from the building’s core form. Usually it’s something one tries to swim against to retain a sense of ‘authenticity’, but here we decided to embrace it….I like the idea of setting Ruskin’s conception of the craftsman against the absolute Taylorism of the construction process. Through digital reproduction, these deracinated stones are now doubly lost.’ (Building Design 27.01.2012)