sports news: 3XN Museum of Liverpool

Photo: Phillip Handforth

“The Museum connects the city together on many levels - physically, socially and architecturally. The idea of creating a Museum as a nexus in both physical and symbolic expression has been central from the start. I am very satisfied to see that this ideal is carried out to the full in the completed structure.”

Kim Herforth Nielsen, Principal

Located at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, between the Albert Dock and the Pier Head, and next to a row of prominent historic buildings dubbed “The Three Graces” the museum building is conceived as inclined or elevated platforms, gradually forming a sculptural structure.

Photo: Phillip Handforth

Visible from both the river and the city the museum contributes to the public promenade flow along the Docks. The enormous gabled windows open up towards the City and the Harbor, and therefore symbolically draw history into the Museum, while at the same time allow the curious to look in.

Photo: Phillip Handforth

The exterior is characterized by geometric panels of Jura limestone cut into a range of shapes, including elongated triangular shapes for much of the facade. Creating the pattern into a relief gives the facade an element of variation, as the changing light and shadow affect the relief’s expression.

Photo: Pete Carr

Sketch courtesy 3XN

The outdoor areas around the Museum offer seating with views to the water adding to the dynamic urban environment and serving as a meeting point for locals and visitors alike. The theme is carried through into the museum’s central atrium, with its sculptural sweeping staircase leading up to the galleries further encouraging social interaction.

Photo: Pete Carr

“I view staircases as a central social room. It’s my experience that stairs are the generator for social interaction. People speak together when they walk together up or down a staircase. If the staircase is sculpturally executed and at the same time gives the user a beautiful overview, people will want to use it. The central staircase creates an animated central space in a building and ties together various rooms and floors in an organic way. It is also space optimizing in that people can avoid long corridors, which almost always contributes in a positive way to a building.”

Kim Herforth Nielsen, Principal

Sustainability was one of the key drivers for the design since the inception of the project. The BREEAM process and Bespoke assessment criteria allowed sustainable benchmarks to be carefully weighed up and evaluated against one another to establish the most suitable and beneficial solution for the development.