Designed by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron, the new extension to the Tate Modern art gallery on London’s South Bank reflects the original power station`s architecture with a brick latticework, yet embodies a radical reinterpretation of this familiar material and thereby adds a truly unique and contemporary addition to its famous site.
Herzog & de Meuron`s intention when developing the proposal for the extension was to complement Giles Gilbert Scott’s iconic brick Bankside Power Station and create ‘a building conglomerate which appears as one thing, not as a phase one and a phase two.’ The interior spaces of the Switch House therefore apply a similar palette of raw, industrial materials that evoke the power station’s original Boiler House. The exterior appearance is shaped by horizontal apertures puncturing the facade that incorporate windows, some of which are set behind the brick veil so the surfaces appear to glow at night.
The Switch House’s architecture combines a modernist sensibility with an imaginative approach to material treatments and detailing. Rising up ten storeys and thereby adding 60 percent more floor area to the world’s most popular museum of modern and contemporary art the Tate Modern Switch House constitutes a truly dramatic new presence on London’s skyline and is complemented with an open-air viewing area that provides a 360-degree vista across London.
Architects | Herzog & de Meuron |
Opening | 2016 |
Location | London, UK |
LAUFEN products | MODERNA PLUS toilets; |