Albertopolis Walking Tour: transcript - Royal Institute of British ...

Albertopolis Walking Tour: transcript
Total length: 52 minutes
Stops:
1. Start: Aston Webb screen
0.00mins
2. Henry Cole Wing of V&A
1.27mins
3. Science Museum
4.00mins
4. Imperial College Business School Entrance
7.03mins
5. Jamaican High Commission, or 1-2 Prince Consort Road/29 Exhibition
Road/1-2 Lowther Gardens
8.57mins
6. Royal Geographical Society
10.28mins
7. Albert Memorial
13.37mins
8. Royal Albert Hall
16.43mins
9. Royal College of Art
20.13mins
10. Royal College of Organists
24.15mins
11. Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road
26.36mins
12. Imperial College Union
27.39mins
13. Royal College of Music
28.57mins
14. Royal School of Mines
31.08mins
15. Royal College of Science
32.41mins
16. Queen’s Tower, Imperial Institute
34.57mins
17. 170 Queen’s Gate
39.06mins
18. Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Phase I
41.05mins
19. Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Phase II
43.14mins
20. Natural History Museum
44.19mins
21. Victoria and Albert Museum
47.22mins
22. End: Refreshment Rooms, V&A
50.10mins
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1. Start: Exhibition Road Entrance to Victoria and Albert
Museum – Aston Webb screen
0.00mins
To begin our tour of the Exhibition
Road Cultural Quarter we start at the
southern end of Exhibition Road,
outside the Groups Entrance to the
V&A.
The low-level building you see before
you is quite literally a link between
science and art, a fitting way to start
our tour of Albertopolis. One of
Prince Albert’s intentions for the area
was the encouragement of the study of
both the arts and science. The
structure in front of you is effectively a
screen, designed by the architect Sir
Aston Webb screen, 2010
Aston Webb, which joins the Victoria
Photographer: Susan Pugh
and Albert Museum, an internationally
renowned arts collection on the right,
with the former Science Schools
building on the left, (now the Henry Cole Wing of the V&A).
The screen was erected in 1909 to hide the original boiler house of the museum which lay
behind. Such an industrial space wasn’t suitable or attractive enough for Exhibition Road, so
Webb was commissioned to design something to mask it from view. Although relatively
small the Classical screen he created is effective and imposing, with its square Corinthian
columns above a heavy-looking rusticated base. The solidity of this base is emphasised by the
many pockmarks you see along it, all resulting from bomb damage during the Second World
War.
Turning to the left or northwards up Exhibition Road, we now look to the Henry Cole Wing
of the V&A, or the former Science Schools.
Pause the recording
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2. Henry Cole Wing of V&A
1.27mins
To the north or left of where we are standing
is a striking Italianate red brick building now
known as the Henry Cole Wing of the V&A. It
has had many different names since it was
built in 1871, including the Science Schools,
the Royal College of Science, and the Huxley
Building. It was originally built as a School of
Naval Architecture, to contain laboratories and
teaching rooms.
The initial plans for the building were made by
Francis Fowke, however he died before work
began. General H.D.Y. Scott, who also
worked on the Royal Albert Hall, took over
the project and completed the building with
the assistance of James Gamble and J.W. Wild.
This was the first building of the Department of Science and Art to have a prominent
position on Exhibition Road, so a showy front was required. Scott designed an impressive
seven-bay elevation with one-bay projections at either end topped with a pediment. Red
brick and lots of terracotta decoration ornamented in Minton majolica were used, following
the style evolved by Cole, Fowke and Sykes at the South Kensington Museum.
An elaborate decorative scheme was devised, based on Sykes’ decoration of the museum’s
Lecture Theatre building, (now the north wing of the Madejski Gardens). The terracotta
columns on the ground floor exterior are identical to those on the Lecture Theatre front. On
the top floor of the building are more ornate columns, producing a long open arcaded
balcony or loggia.
In 1974 the building was converted to house the Department of Prints, Drawings &
Photographs of the V&A and renamed the Henry Cole Building. A new link structure was
built to join it to the museum, whilst also creating a new entrance on Exhibition Road.
Before we leave this side of the Exhibition Road it’s worth noting the traditional red
telephone kiosk between the Aston Webb screen and the Henry Cole Wing. This iconic
telephone box design, known as the K2 type, was created by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1927, and
some of the drawings for it now in the RIBA Drawings and Archives Collections.
Interestingly Scott was the grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect of the Albert
Memorial. All surviving original red telephone boxes are now listed buildings, and as such are
part of our protected heritage.
Turn to face the other side of Exhibition Road to view the large, Classical stone building
opposite, the Science Museum.
Pause the recording
Henry Cole Wing, 1871
Reproduced by permission of English
Heritage. NMR
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3. Science Museum
4.00mins
The Science Museum is the youngest of the
museums in the Exhibition Road Cultural
Quarter, although its origins date back to the
Great Exhibition of 1851. The study of science
was a key part of the exhibition’s objective, and
this ideal was continued by Prince Albert and
the 1851 Commissioners when they developed
the area of South Kensington.
Although the first museum, the South
Kensington Museum which opened in 1857, is
though of as an arts institution, science
collections featured in its very first building, the
Brompton Boilers. As the science collections
expanded during the 1860s they had to be
gradually moved across Exhibition Road, in to
storage in buildings originally constructed for
the International Exhibition of 1862.
The East Block of the Science
Museum, 1928
Copyright: Science Museum/SSPL
From 1893 the science collections had their own director but they were still administered as
part of the South Kensington Museum. The science accommodation was by now inadequate
and the scientific community argued for new and appropriate buildings.
The committee planned a range of buildings all the way from Exhibition Road to Queen’s
Gate. In reality only a small proportion of the proposed buildings were ever built.
Construction work began on the East Block in 1913, and this is the building which you see
before you today.
Due to World War I the museum was not fully opened until 1928. It was designed by the
Office of Works and the architect Sir Richard Allison (1869-1958). Allison, who was a
Scotsman, used the department store as a model for the inside of the museum and the
Edwardian office building for the outside. Having said that, the Science Museum’s exterior
does also bear some resemblance to Selfridges on Oxford Street.
Allison designed generous circulation spaces inside the museum, and a roof lit central hall
which serves very well for the display of large engines. He also created open galleries at the
sides, lit naturally as was the fashion at the time.
In 1996 some westward expansion at South Kensington finally began. The Wellcome Trust
sponsored a new building which was to become the Wellcome Wing of the museum. This
was opened by HM The Queen in June 2000 and houses exhibitions of present and future
science and technology.
If you cross over Exhibition Road to stand at the entrance to the Science Museum you’ll see
on the opposite side of the road a striking modern church that is the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints. This Mormon church was designed by T.P Bennett and Son in 1961.
Also worth noting is the large block of flats immediately next door to the church, numbers
59-63 Prince Gate. This is a 1930s interpretation of the white stuccoed terraces of South
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Kensington. This Art Deco building was completed in around 1935 by the architects Adie,
Button and Partners.
Continue northwards up Exhibition Road until you come to a contemporary building with
tall white columns which is the main entrance to Imperial College.
Pause the recording
4. Imperial College Business School Entrance
7.03mins
This high-tech building was opened by Queen
Elizabeth II in 2004 as the Tanaka Business
School and it acts as the main entrance and
atrium to Imperial College London. The
£26million building costs were met by alumnus
Dr Gary Tanaka, hence the building’s original
name. In October 2008 the building was renamed
the Imperial College Business School to
emphasise the connection with the college.
The structure was designed by Foster and
Partners and gives Imperial College a very strong
presence and identity on Exhibition Road. The
dramatic white colonnade stands proudly forward
on to the pavement, welcoming students in to the
college. Through the glass façade you can see an
impressive six-storey stainless steel drum, which
contains six lecture theatres.
The Business School connects on the upper floors with the neighbouring Royal School of
Mines, a building designed by the Victorian architect Sir Aston Webb, which will be featured
later in this walk. It also provides public access to other parts of Imperial College, acting as a
thoroughfare to buildings behind, including the striking blue Faculty building, another
structure designed by Foster and Partners.
Lord Foster of Foster and Partners is the one of the most influential and prolific British
architects today. He has designed some of London’s most recent landmarks including the
Greater London Assembly building and the gherkin-shaped Swiss Re tower.
Looking across Exhibition Road to number 50 Princes Gate, you can see the London branch
of the Goethe Institute, another of the members of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group.
The Goethe Institute acts to promote the study of Germany, its cultural, social and political
life, and in particular its language.
Continue up Exhibition Road until you reach Prince Consort Road. Pause here to look at
the red brick building on the corner.
Pause the recording
Imperial College Business School, 2007
Photographer: Christopher Hope-Fitch
Copyright: Christopher Hope-
Fitch/RIBA Library Photographs
Collection
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5. Jamaican High Commission, or 1-2 Prince Consort Road/29
Exhibition Road/1-2 Lowther Gardens
8.57mins
The Jamaican High Commission is now
located here in this beautiful red brick
building here on the corner of Prince
Consort Road and Exhibition Road.
Although not really part of the story of
Albertopolis it’s worth pausing here to
admire this building which is a very
important, relatively early example of
the Queen Anne style.
The building was designed by J.J.
Stevenson in 1876, as a pair of private
houses. It is a superb example of this
revival style of architecture. The name
Queen Anne style is derived from its
inspiration: that is English and Dutch
houses in around 1700, when Queen
Anne was on the throne. The houses
display many of the style’s distinctive
characteristics including: an irregular outline; asymmetric windows, balconies and gables; cutbrick
decoration; superimposed pilasters; and the use of the sunflower motif. It is interesting
to look from Stevenson’s redbrick building to the contrasting white stucco terraced houses
across the road, showing just how far domestic architecture had developed from the
Georgian style which had dominated from the 18 th century right up until the mid-19 th
century.
Continue up to the top of Exhibition Road, and turn left onto Kensington Gore, walk about
ten metres along the road to look at another significant example of the Queen Anne Style,
Lowther Lodge, now home to the Royal Geographical Society.
Pause the recording
6. Royal Geographical Society
10.28mins
1-2 Prince Consort Road/29 Exhibition
Road/1-2 Lowther Gardens
Source: Building News, 1878
Copyright: RIBA Library Photographs
Collection
The Royal Geographical Society was founded in 1830, and moved to Lowther Lodge in
1912. Although not part of the 1851 Commissioners’ original plans for the area, the Society’s
objectives and activities complement the ideals of South Kensington and it is now one of the
members of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group.
Lowther Lodge was designed by the architect Richard Norman Shaw in 1873. It was to be a
“country house” on the edge of town for the MP, William Lowther, who had bought the site
in 1870 and pulled down the previous property.
When Shaw’s design was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874 a contemporary journal,
The Building News, declared it to be a house of the “most uncompromising Queen Anne
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character.” This was a new style of architecture of which Shaw and JJ Stevenson were the
main proponents. Key characteristics of the style were the use of redbrick; asymmetrical
elevations; tall pedimented or Dutch gables; towering chimney stacks; and the use of the
sunflower motif. All of these features can be seen at Lowther Lodge.
William Lowther died in 1912, and his son James, Speaker of the House of Commons, sold
the house for £100,000 to the RGS.
In 1928-30 the building was altered
and extended to better suit the needs
of the Society.
To the left you can see the new
lecture theatre, which was added by
Kennedy and Nightingale on the site
of the former stables for the
property. The external wall they
created on the corner of Kensington
Gore and Exhibition Road is
consequently very bare, with no
windows, mainly for acoustic reasons.
The only decorations to the wall are
two statues of famous explorers: Sir
Ernest Shackleton by C. Sargeant
Jagger of 1932; and David
Livingstone by TB Huxley-Jones, of
1953.
Immediately to the west, or right of Lowther Lodge on Kensington Gore stands a very large,
imposing redbrick block of flats. This is Albert Hall Mansions, built between 1879 and 86,
and also designed by Shaw. When Lowther Lodge was built Kensington was almost fully
developed, although the adjacent sites to the house were still empty. It is therefore surprising
that it was Shaw himself who filled the site to the west with a structure which completely
over-powers the house he designed. Perhaps this was a symptom of how many Victorian
architects saw their creations as individual ventures, disregarding context.
Albert Hall Mansions was the first block of flats in London in the new red brick Queen
Anne style, many followed it, including several other large red brick mansion flats which
grew up around the Albert Hall during the 1880s and 90s.
Continue westward along Kensington Gore until you come to the traffic lights by the
Albert Hall. Cross over the road here to enter Kensington Gardens, heading towards the
Albert Memorial. Before we move on to the memorial, take the opportunity to turn around
to get a better view of Albert Hall Mansions.
Pause the recording
Front and side elevations for Lowther Lodge,
1873
Copyright: RIBA Library Drawings and
Archives Collections
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7. Albert Memorial
13.37mins
The 53 metre high Albert Memorial has been a
London landmark since its unveiling in 1872.
Following the sudden death of her beloved Prince
Albert from typhoid in 1861, Queen Victoria very
quickly decided that a memorial should be built to
honour her late husband. She invited seven leading
architects to submit designs for a monument to be
built in Kensington Gardens. It was to be located just
to the north of the museums area which Albert had
helped to build up, and to the west of where the
Great Exhibition had been held.
The results of the competition were announced in
April 1863. George Gilbert Scott was the winner, with
his ornate design for a canopy or tabernacle in the
Gothic style, containing a seated statue of Albert.
Work began on constructing the memorial in 1864
and in 1872 the 176 feet or 53 metre high memorial
was opened, although it was not completely finished
until 1876. The monument cost £120,000 to build, a
large sum at the time, due in part to the luxurious
materials used and the numerous craftsmen involved.
The 24ct gold statue of Albert was completed by the
sculptor John Henry Foley. The prince is dressed as a
Knight of the Garter and is sat holding a catalogue to
the Great Exhibition of 1851. The memorial contains
many references to Albert’s interests and his work in
the field of arts and science education.
At the base of the canopy runs a frieze in which is the
following inscription:
Statue of Prince Albert, preliminary
model for the Albert Memorial,
c.1863
Copyright: V&A Images
“Queen Victoria and her people - A tribute to the memory of Albert Prince Consort –
As a Tribute of their gratitude – for a life dedicated to the public good.”
The mosaics for each side of the canopy and beneath it were designed by Clayton and Bell
and manufactured by the firm of Salviati in Venice.
The podium of the memorial is surrounded by an elaborate sculptural frieze, depicting 169
individual composers, architects, poets, painters, and sculptors, all carved by Henry Hugh
Armstead and John Birnie Philip.
At the four corners of the podium, below the statue of the prince, are allegorical marble
sculptures of agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacturing. At the outermost
corners are allegorical stone sculptures of Europe, Asia, Africa, & the Americas, reflecting
Albert’s international concerns.
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Underneath the memorial is a large undercroft of numerous brick arches, which act as the
foundations to the heavy monument above. Tours of the memorial, including the undercroft,
are given by English Heritage on the first Sunday of the month, from March to December.
If you were to continue walking northwards through the park you’d come to the Serpentine
Gallery, one of London’s premier galleries for Contemporary Art, and one of the 16
members of the Exhibition Road Cultural Group.
For the next stop on our Walking Tour turn to the south, looking across Kensington Gore
to the iconic round structure of the Royal Albert Hall.
Pause the recording
8. Royal Albert Hall
16.43mins
Built between 1867 and 1871 the Royal
Albert Hall was originally intended to be
both a large music hall and a conference
centre for meetings of learned societies. In
reality it was not possible to combine the
two, however the range of events held in
the hall as always been incredible. From
opera to ice skating, rock concerts to
awards events, the hall has become known
as the “Nation’s Village Hall.”
A music hall for South Kensington was
first proposed by Prince Albert and Henry
Cole in as early as 1853. The project later
materialised as the Central Hall of Arts and
Science, and a site to the north of the Royal
Horticultural Society Gardens was
proposed.
Royal Albert Hall, 1970
Photographer: Edwin Smith (1912-1971)
Copyright: RIBA Library Photographs
Collection
After the death of the Prince in 1861, Cole became the driving force behind the project. It
was renamed the Royal Albert Hall by Queen Victoria when she laid the foundation stone in
May 1867.
The hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke and completed by Major-General Henry
Scott after Fowke’s sudden death in 1865. Both were engineer designers closely associated
with Cole and the South Kensington Museum. In general terms the hall’s overall form and
internal layout can be attributed to Fowke, and its exterior look and character to Scott.
The Royal Albert Hall is an iconic modern day version of the Roman amphitheatre. The
elliptical shape of the building was possibly modelled on the ancient amphitheatres of Nîmes
and Arles, in the South of France, both of which were visited by Cole and Fowke in 1863.
Scott simplified Fowke’s design, with less overt classical detailing. One major change he
made was the addition of the mosaic frieze which continues all the way round the building
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elow the main cornice. Numerous artists contributed to the frieze design, including Reuben
Townroe. In keeping with the ethos of Albertopolis the ladies of the South Kensington
Museum’s mosaic class made the 800 slabs which make up the frieze.
The main cylinder of the building is primarily red brick with terracotta decoration. Above is a
vast domed roof of glass and iron.
On the 29 th March 1871 Queen Victoria officially opened the Royal Albert Hall. It was to be
an emotional and testing occasion for the Queen. She arrived by carriage on Kensington
Gore, but had requested that the statue of her late husband, in the centre of the Albert
Memorial, be covered in cloth so as not to upset her. Despite it being 10 years after her
husband’s death she still wore black mourning dress, however she had white ribbons added
to it to show that she was at least in part happy.
10,000 people attended the opening, however the brick and terracotta structure was actually
built to seat 8000. Due to current Health and Safety regulations today it seats just 5600. In
2004 the hall underwent a £70million refurbishment. This included adding 3 new basement
levels and loading bays, to reduce disruption to local residents due to the almost daily
changing of events in this busy central London venue.
To the right or west of the Royal Albert Hall on Kensington Gore is a very different large,
modern building, the Royal College of Art. Move to a position on Kensington Gore where
you have a good view of the college.
Pause the recording
9. Royal College of Art
20.13mins
The large modern building you see before
you was built between 1960 and 1963 to be
the new home of the Royal College of Art,
often referred to simply as the RCA. It was
designed by three members of its own
staff: Henry Thomas Cadbury-Brown, who
taught in the sculpture department; Sir
Hugh Casson, then Professor of Interior
Design; and Robert Gooden, Professor of
Silversmithing and Jewellery.
Just as with the V&A, the origins of the
Royal College of Art came from the 1830s
movement for popular education in
industrial design. The RCA began life in
Somerset House, central London, in 1837
as the Metropolitan School of Design.
Design for the Royal College of Art,
c.1955-60
Copyright: RIBA Library Drawings and
Archives Collections
In 1857 it was renamed the Normal
Training School of Art and moved to
South Kensington, where it shared a site with the new South Kensington Museum. Another
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name change followed in 1863, before the college gained its current title, the Royal College
of Art in 1897.
By the early 20 th century the college was running out of space. Various proposals were put
forward for a new building. In 1951 the site before you on Kensington Gore was assigned to
the RCA. For the first time all the college departments and administration could be brought
together on one site (although the RCA has since expanded and this is no longer possible).
The design for the new building was not completed until 1959. The result is a striking
structure, very much of the late 1950s/60s. It was a brave move for both the designers and
Westminster Council, placing such an overtly modern structure amongst the Georgian white
stuccoed terraces and the red brick Victorian buildings of Kensington. The RCA building
was listed Grade II in 2001, recognising the building as a very fine example of a cultural
institution of the 1960s.
The college was planned as three blocks: the main eight-storey structure along Kensington
Gore, known as the Darwin Building and named after the principal of the time, Robin
Darwin; the Gulbenkian Wing, the long, low, exhibition block facing the Albert Hall; and
behind it, a smaller block housing the library, and common-rooms. Although the new
buildings are all strikingly different to the neighbouring Victorian structures, the designers
took care to be as complementary as possible.
The Darwin Building was limited in height to balance Shaw’s Albert Hall Mansions, which
sits on the opposite side of the Albert Hall. The regular but broken skyline of the building
was also designed to reflect the gables of Shaw’s mansion block, and dark brick cladding was
chosen for the concrete building, so as to mirror the then un-cleaned red brick of the Shaw
buildings and the Albert Hall. The entrance and exhibition block opposite the Albert Hall
was kept deliberately low to allow views of the hall from the college.
In using staff to plan the building the design shows a good understanding of the needs of the
college. The interior was intended to be flexible and unobtrusive. Studios open into
workshops and corridors are avoided where possible. The reinforced concrete construction
of the main structure allowed the designers to split the building along its axis, giving different
ceiling heights at the front and back. Natural lighting from more than one direction in each
room was also adopted where possible.
The new college proved on the whole to be popular with its students. The RCA boasts an
incredible list of alumni, including: Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Sir James Dyson,
David Hockney, Tracey Emin, David Adjaye, and Sir Ridley Scott.
To move to the next location on the Walking Tour cross back over Kensington Gore and
walk towards the RCA. Take the road to the left between the college and the Royal Albert
Hall until you come to number 26, an unusual, highly ornate building on the right hand
side, with the name “Royal College of Organists” above the black front door.
Pause the recording
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10. Royal College of Organists
24.15mins
This unusual building was built in 1874-75 to
accommodate the new National Training
School for Music, later to become the Royal
College of Music. Interestingly the architect
was Lieutenant H.H. Cole, the eldest son of
Henry Cole, one of the main figures behind
South Kensington.
Lieutenant Cole, who gave his services for
free on the project, had great experience and
knowledge of Indian archaeology and
architecture. He had also catalogued the casts
for the Indian section of the South
Kensington Museum. This interest and
knowledge can be seen in his design, although
his father and members of the Science and
Art Department were also consulted.
Cole combined the Old English style of the
15 th century, with its large oriel windows,
timber framing and brackets, with Italianate plaster ornament and a polychromatic or multicoloured
façade, resulting in the building having quite a foreign feel.
It was intended that the school contrast with the neighbouring Royal Albert Hall, so red
brick and terracotta were avoided. Instead, cream, pale blue and maroon sgraffito, or incised
plaster decoration, was adopted. This decorative scheme was devised by F.W. Moody, who
had also designed for the South Kensington Museum. The frieze features numerous
musicians, reflecting the function of the building.
The building and school opened in May 1876, with Sir Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and
Sullivan fame, as its first principal. In 1883 the School was replaced by the Royal College of
Music, who were already preparing to move to a larger site by 1887. The building stood
vacant from 1896 until 1903 when the Royal College of Organists took a lease for the site for
99 years.
The organists left the building in 1990. Once again the building remained unoccupied for a
while, but it has now been converted and restored for use as a private house.
To reach the next stop on our walk follow the curving road round to the right, walking
down towards Bremner Road. Turn left on to Queen’s Gate and then take the immediate
first left turning into Prince Consort Road. Walk along Prince Consort Road until you come
to a church on the left hand side.
Pause the recording
Royal College of Organists, c.1876
Reproduced by permission of English
Heritage. NMR
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11. Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road,
26.36mins
Although not part of the story of
Albertopolis it’s worth noting this simple
but beautiful Victorian church. Holy Trinity
Church was one of the last works of the
architect, G.F. Bodley, built between 1901
and 1906. It is a very fine Gothic Revival
church which looks back to 14 th century hall
churches. It has a simple stone exterior but
with elaborate Perpendicular tracery to the
windows. It was a difficult, confined site to
work with and Bodley succeeded in
producing an elegant church, with a notable
interior complete with most of the fittings
being designed by him too. Bodley is
perhaps best known for his designs
produced by the decorating company Watts
& Co. of which he was a founder.
Continue now along Prince Consort Road until you come to the entrance to the Imperial
College Union, Beit Quadrangle, on the left hand side. The union courtyard is open to the
public so feel free to wander in.
Pause the recording
12. Imperial College Union
27.39mins
This Students’ Union building was the third
structure which the architect Sir Aston Webb
designed for Imperial College. The college was
founded in 1907 with the joining of the Royal
College of Science, the Royal School of Mines
and the City and Guilds College. By 1910 the
college and its needs had grown considerably
and a Students Union was officially established
with the commissioning of Webb to design a
union building.
The union formed part of what became known
as Beit Quadrangle, named after Sir Alfred
Beit, a major benefactor to the college. The
union building today is not recognisable from
Webb’s original design. In the 1920s student
accommodation was built in front of and
Holy Trinity Church, 2010
Photographer: Wilson Yau
Design for hostel for 50 students
(part of the Beit Quadrangle), 1924
Copyright: RIBA Library Drawings
and Archives Collections
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around the union, again to a design by Webb, however these have since been considerably
added to, including an additional storey on top.
Continue along Prince Consort Road, pausing at the bottom of the steps which lead up to
the Albert Hall. In the centre of the steps you’ll see the Memorial to the Great Exhibition
of 1851, designed by Joseph Durham, and appropriately topped with a statue of Prince
Albert. Now turn around to face the grand red brick building on the other side of the road,
the Royal College of Music.
Pause the recording
13. Royal College of Music
28.57mins
The Royal College of Music began its days in
1873 as the National Training School for Music.
Initially it was housed in the building known as
the Royal College of Organists, which we have
already visited on this walk.
By 1887 the school had changed its name to the
Royal College of Music and it had outgrown its
premises. The 1851 Commissioners offered
them a new site, first of all on the west side of
Exhibition Road, and later a second site, the one
before you.
This new location was on the south side of a
new street, Prince Consort Road, and was
offered with a lease for 999 years. The college
commissioned the experienced architect Sir
Arthur Blomfield to design their new premises,
and he produced a grand, red brick French
baronial style building which was formally
opened by the Prince of Wales on 2 May 1894.
Royal College of Music, 2010
Photographer: Wilson Yau
Blomfield had faced quite a challenge. The site
was north facing, overlooked by the majestic Albert Hall, and at the time two large blocks of
flats were planned to be built either side. The architect therefore needed to produce
something tall and grand, to compete with its neighbours.
He insisted his design for the main façade must wait until the plan had been completely
decided upon. However, in the end he had to provide a façade for a tall building consisting
mainly of small rooms in storeys of nearly equal and modest height. The result was a façade
with small-scale subdivisions, and as such it was criticised for its lack of monumentality and
interest.
Blomfield faced further disappointment in that he had intended to further develop the
building behind with two quadrangles, but this was put off until later, and ultimately was not
built by Blomfield. The college underwent several extensions in the 1960s, including one to
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the south side of Blomfield’s building, and this was designed by the architects of the new
Imperial College, Norman and Dawbarn.
Continue walking westwards along Prince Consort Road, towards Exhibition Road, until you
come to the next building, the Royal School of Mines, now part of the Imperial College of
Science and Technology.
Pause the recording
14. Royal School of Mines
31.08mins
The Royal School of Mines began
life in 1851 with the Museum of
Practical Geology. It was the first
government backed technical higher
education establishment in the
United Kingdom. Initially it sat in
Jermyn Street, central London,
however after a number of
developments, including a merger
with the Royal College of Chemistry
in 1853, the school outgrew its
accommodation and in the 1870s the
school moved piecemeal to South
Kensington. At first it moved in to
the building that is now the Henry Cole Wing of the V&A, but then into a purpose-built
structure by Sir Aston Webb, which is the building before you.
Built between 1910 and 1913 Webb designed the Royal School of Mines as an imposing
classical structure. The entrance to the school uses the Ionic order and is recessed into the
building. It is dominated by the two flanking statues outside, those of Sir Julius Charles
Werhner and Sir Alfred Beit, both substantial benefactors to the School who died just before
the building was completed.
During construction the Royal School of Mines joined with the Royal College of Science and
the City and Guilds College to form Imperial College. It is the only building of these three to
have survived the 1950s and 60s reconstruction of Imperial College.
Turn right into Exhibition Road, walk past the modern entrance to Imperial College and
then turn right into Imperial College Road. Walk about 50 metres along the road until you
notice a stripy brick building on the left hand side with obelisk street lamps in front.
Pause the recording
Royal School of Mines, 1910
Copyright: RIBA Library Drawings and Archives
Collections
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15. Royal College of Science
32.41mins
Imperial College Road today
consists of a mish-mash of buildings
from different ages. One of the
oldest is the Royal College of
Science, a very small section of
which survives, sandwiched between
the Post Office building and the Sir
Alexander Fleming Building of
Imperial College, all of which sit on
the south or left-hand side of the
road.
The college was designed by Sir
Aston Webb at the turn of the 20th
century. The remnant of this
formerly imposing building is
recognisable by its bold stripy brick
courses and round-arched windows.
Some of Webb’s original obelisk street lamps which ran along the building’s frontage also
survive.
This building was not the original location of the Royal College of Science. The college was
first founded in 1881 as the Normal School of Science and it shared a home with the School
of Mines in the building that is now known as the Henry Cole Wing of the V&A. The college
later gained the Royal title, and over the next twenty years both Schools grew considerably,
outgrowing their premises.
Aston Webb was employed to design new homes for both colleges and he began with the
Royal College of Science. In 1898 the 1851 Commission offered land opposite the Imperial
Institute, valued at £100,000, if government funding was made available for construction of
the building. It was, and between 1900 and 1906 Webb built a large classical structure,
complete with new modern well equipped laboratories.
The Royal College of Science was undertaken at the pinnacle of Webb’s career. Around this
time he was also working on the main front of the V&A, the Royal School of Mines, and
Admiralty Arch on Trafalgar Square. Between 1902 and 1904 Webb was President of the
RIBA, and in 1904 he received a knighthood.
Sadly the college was almost entirely demolished in the early 1960s and 1970s, as part of the
major reconstruction of Imperial College.
Continue walking eastwards along Imperial College Road until you’re standing in front of a
lone tall tower, topped by a green copper dome, the Queen’s Tower of Imperial Institute.
Pause the recording
Exterior of Royal College of Science, c. 1900
Copyright: RIBA Library Photographs Collection
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16. Queen’s Tower, Imperial Institute
34.57mins
Before you is the sole survivor of T.E.
Collcutt’s Imperial Institute of 1893,
the Portland stone Queen’s Tower. It
stands proudly reaching a height of 285
feet, looking down today on Imperial
College and dominating the
Kensington skyline with its colourful
green copper dome.
This plot and the surrounding lands
used to be the site of the Royal
Horticultural Society Gardens until
they were closed in 1882. The first of
the new buildings on the land was the
Imperial Institute, founded after the
Imperial Exhibition of 1886 and in
celebration of the Queen’s Golden
Jubilee. Its purpose was to encourage
scientific study relevant to all countries
of the British Empire, through
research, exhibitions, and conferences.
It was intended to encourage
emigration, expand trade, and to
promote the commercial and industrial
prosperity of the empire. The location
in South Kensington had been received
with some criticism – many preferred
Westminster as a more apt location,
however finances dictated a less central
location.
Contract design for the Principal Tower of the
Imperial Institute, 1888
Copyright: RIBA Library Drawings and Archives
Collections
Thomas Edward Collcutt won the competition to design the institute and he created a Neo-
Renaissance style building. His design consisted of a simple symmetrical plan, a strong
building profile with a 700 foot long front with a large central tower (the Queen’s Tower),
and smaller towers at the ends. The façade used what became a Collcutt trademark,
horizontal stripes of brick through stone, a feature you might be more familiar with at the
Palace Theatre in London’s West End, which was also designed by Collcutt. It could also be
that Aston Webb had Collcutt’s use of stripes in mind when he designed the Royal College
of Science, which is on the other side of the street.
Although Collcutt’s Imperial Institute design was in the French Early Renaissance style the
building was intended as a symbol of the British Empire. As such the smaller turrets that
used to flank the tower were capped by onion domes, possibly in tribute to India. Above the
entrance door Collcutt also placed the patriotic inscription: “Strength and honour are her
clothing.”
The institute did not prove to be a success and already in 1899 the University of London
took over half of the building as administration offices. By 1936 the university moved out to
Bloomsbury and for the next 20 years the institute was subject to various changes of
administration.
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In 1953 the government announced a scheme for the expansion of Imperial College, which it
became apparent would include the demolition of Collcutt’s building. Imperial College had
been created in 1907 with the merger of several technical colleges which had been set up on
and around the site in South Kensington
Fondness for the tower was such that when it was proposed to demolish Imperial Institute in
the 1950s, the tower alone was saved. After the demolition of the surrounding, supporting
buildings, the tower had to be reinforced with a new base and foundations. Interestingly this
exercise was carried out in part by the same people who straightened the leaning tower of
Pisa.
The tower used to be open to visitors, to admire the view from the top gallery, where in
good conditions you can see for 20 miles. Unfortunately it is now closed due to lack of
resources, and also reputedly due to the number of student suicides which took place here.
The tower also contains an important collection of bells, the Alexandra Peal of bells, which
can be heard on royal anniversaries and on Imperial College graduation days. The peal in the
belfry consists of 10 bells, all named after members of the Royal family. Also worth noting
are the two majestic stone lions which sit beneath the tower to the north side. Originally
there were four lions flanking the entrance to Imperial Institute, the other two were removed
during demolition of the institute and taken to its successor, the Commonwealth Institute.
Continue walking westwards along Imperial College Road. Continue through the gates at
the end and pause to look at the house at the very end of the street on the right hand site,
no. 170 Queen’s Gate.
Pause the recording
17. 170 Queen’s Gate
39.06mins
170 Queen’s Gate is one of a number
of houses the architect Richard
Norman Shaw designed along this
prestigious London street. Today it is
the rector’s house for Imperial College.
It also serves as a meeting venue and is
available for private hire.
The house, which was completed in
1889, was commissioned by Frederick
Anthony White, a wealthy cement
manufacturer with an interest in art and
architecture. The White family crest sits
proudly above the front door, and the
initials of White and his wife can be
seen on the rainwater heads.
170 Queen’s Gate, 1900
Copyright: RIBA Library Photographs Collection
The red brick house with its stone
dressings is an important example of English domestic architecture of the period. It follows
very loosely the style which Shaw became internationally famous for, the Queen Anne style.
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However, it doesn’t have the very distinctive Queen Anne motifs which Shaw employed
nearby at Lowther Lodge.
170 Queen’s Gate changed hands a number of times before it was acquired by Imperial
College in 1947. It was then altered slightly by Sir Hubert Worthington, consultant architect
to the college, to adapt it to the College’s needs.
Its future was threatened in the 1950s and 1960s when Imperial College was looking to
radically expand and rebuild. Another nearby Shaw house, 180 Queen’s Gate was demolished
to make way for new buildings, as was the nearby Imperial Institute. However fortunately
Shaw’s houses at 170 and 196 Queen’s Gate were saved and today number 170 remains a key
part of the college’s estate.
Now turn left to walk southwards down Queen’s Gate, past the Dana Centre, until you
come to a large modern building set back from the street on the left hand side which is the
Darwin Centre of the Natural History Museum. Move slightly down along the road so that
you have a good view of the striking glass wall which faces the building to the south,
perpendicular to Queen’s Gate.
Pause the recording
Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum
41.05mins
The most recent phase in the development of the Natural History Museum is the Darwin
Centre. This extension to the Museum acts not only as a store for some of its vast collections
but also provides new laboratories for the scientists working at the museum, and “behind the
scenes” access for visitors.
The centre was planned in two parts: Phase I being completed in 2002 by the architectural
firm HOK, and Phase II, designed by CF Møller, opened in 2009.
18. Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Phase I
41.40mins
Phase I of the Darwin Centre is that immediately before you and contains storage for the
Museum’s collection of 22 million zoological specimens stored in spirit, and is an excellent
example of a new wave of environmental architecture.
The building is faced by a large glass solar wall, designed to reduce heat in summer and heat
loss in winter. It has a “caterpillar” roof made of recyclable materials, which lets in lots of
natural light, reducing the need for electricity.
The choice of these environmental features also follows the designer’s wish to reflect on the
outside of the building what happens inside, just as Alfred Waterhouse did with his animal
sculptures on the main building of the Natural History Museum.
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HOK achieve this by using zoomorphic
brackets in the solar wall; sun-tracking metal
louvers which move, changing the appearance
of the building; and a triple-skin caterpillar like
inflated roof; all of which act to reflect the
centre’s work and ideals.
The designers also wanted to provide a visual
connection to the main museum building by
Waterhouse. It therefore incorporates
terracotta, and the steel frame echoes the blue
terracotta of the Victorian building.
HOK is a global firm of architects well known
for completing large scale projects. Most
notably the Heathrow Terminal 5 Rail Station,
and the National Air and Space Museum in
Washington DC.
Move slightly further down along Queen’s Gate to get a good view of the large, long glass
building which sits immediately alongside Phase I.
Pause the recording
19. Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Phase II
43.14mins
Phase II of the Darwin
Centre is a state of the art
scientific research and
collections facility housed
within a 16,000 square metre
building. It securely stores the
museum’s entomology and
botany specimens: some 17
million insects and 3 million
plants.
Exterior of the Darwin Centre, Phase I, 2002
Copyright: The Natural History Museum,
London
The key concept for the Long section of the Second Phase of the Darwin Centre, 2001
building by C.F. Møller Reproduced by kind permission of C. F. Møller Architects
Architects is a giant cocoon
encased within a glass box, a
fitting concept for a building dedicated to studying plants and insects. The 60 metre long
building contains eight storeys which meet around a central atrium.
C.F. Møller Architects is one of Scandinavia’s oldest and largest architectural practices.
Founded in 1924 by the late Christian Frederik Møller, a Danish architect and Professor, the
firm is mainly known for its works in Denmark.
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Continue to walk down Queen’s Gate until you meet the junction with Cromwell Road,
then turn left, walking along the main front of the Natural History Museum, until you come
the museum gates.
Pause the recording
20. Natural History Museum
44.19mins
The iconic Natural History Museum
opened in April 1881 to much praise,
including a description in The Times as
‘a true Temple of Nature.’ It also caught
the headlines as the first building in
Britain to be faced entirely in terracotta.
Its story begins in the 1850s when the
British Museum recognised that its
Natural History Collections had
outgrown their Bloomsbury site. After
much debate it was decided in 1860 to
build them a new home in South
Kensington. Initially the designer was to
be the engineer Francis Fowke, who had
designed much of the South Kensington
Museum. However, Fowke died
Natural History Museum, 1876
Copyright: V&A images
suddenly in 1865, and he was replaced by a rising star from Manchester, Alfred Waterhouse.
At first Waterhouse simply revised Fowke’s design, but with a change in government in 1866
he was given greater licence to make changes, and effectively designed a new building.
Waterhouse bucked the current architectural fashion of adopting the Gothic style, and
instead opted for his own version of German Romanesque. He explained his choice due to it
suiting a museum, giving it order, grandeur and simplicity, appropriate qualities for a natural
history collection.
Key features of Waterhouse’s Romanesque design include:
• Round-arched windows and entrance.
• A double entrance portal.
• Central twin towers, inspired by several German churches, including the Minster of
St. Martin in Bonn which Waterhouse visited and sketched in 1857. It’s worth noting
that the large scale of the towers is also due to demands from the London Fire
Office, who stipulated that the towers should contain water tanks large enough to
provide sufficient pressure to tackle any fires.
• And finally, another Romanesque quality Waterhouse adopted was naturalistic
decoration using plant and animal motifs.
The façade is decorated according to the wishes of the museum’s first director, Sir Richard
Owen. Owen wanted the purpose of the museum conveyed on the exterior: the west side is
decorated with living species; and the east side with extinct species. Owen and Waterhouse
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were possibly influenced in their choice of decoration by the University Museum, Oxford, by
Deane & Woodward, which Waterhouse visited in 1858.
All of the decoration and the whole façade facing are carried out in terracotta. Waterhouse
chose this relatively new material since it could mass produce cheap, durable, and washable
ornament.
The overall result of the façade is reminiscent of both a cathedral front and a medieval
market hall. The building is entered via a magisterial staircase and cathedral like portal, a
theme which is continued in the grand entrance hall which resembles a large church nave.
The interior of the museum is equally as decorative and beautiful as its exterior and is well
worth exploring, even if you’re not interested in dinosaurs!
Continue to walk eastwards along Cromwell Road towards the main entrance to the V&A.
Pause the recording
21. Victoria and Albert Museum
47.22mins
Before you is the world renowned
Victoria and Albert Museum, however
the museum began its life under a
different name and in a different
location. The first seed of what was to
become the South Kensington
Museum, and later the V&A, was the
founding of the Government School of
Design, established in Somerset House
in 1837. The Department of Practical
Art followed in 1852 with the
associated Museum of Manufactures set
up in Marlborough House, which
included objects purchased from the
Great Exhibition.
Aerial photograph of the Victoria and Albert
Museum, 2002
Copyright: English Heritage. NMR
The result was the first public
institution to offer education in design,
with the objective to make works of art
available to all, and to inspire contemporary design. Both the department and museum were
renamed in 1853, and in 1857 they moved to the site before you.
Henry Cole became the museum’s first director, and it was he who coined the name South
Kensington for both the area and the museum. The South Kensington Museum opened in
the summer of 1857 to the north east of where you are standing, in a temporary iron building
which earned the derogatory nickname the ‘Brompton Boilers.’ Cole quickly employed the
engineer Captain Francis Fowke to design new permanent buildings for the museum
collections. The Brompton Boilers was dismantled in 1864 and partially re-erected at Bethnal
Green for a new museum, now the Museum of Childhood.
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Fowke remained the architect for the South Kensington Museum until his death in 1865,
when his work was taken over by another engineer, Major Henry Scott, also architect for the
Albert Hall. The last building to be erected following Fowke and Scott’s plans for the
museum was the National Art Library, opening in 1884. No further building work was
proposed until a competition was launched in 1891 to complete the Museum towards the
Cromwell Road. Up until then the museum lay further to the north than where are standing.
The winner of the 1891 competition was the architect Aston Webb, and it’s this building and
entrance front that you see before you on the Cromwell Road. Queen Victoria laid the
foundation stone for the building in 1899 and at this ceremony that she renamed the
institution the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Now enter the V&A by the main entrance and head for the museum restaurant. To reach
your well earned cup of tea, and the last location for the Walking Tour, walk straight through
the museum, passing directly through the museum entrance, shop and Madejski Gardens, to
enter the museum’s Refreshment Rooms, the world’s first museum public restaurant, located
in the north wing of the Museum Quadrangle.
Pause the recording
22. Refreshment Rooms, V&A
50.10mins
To reach this part of the V&A
you have passed through some
of the oldest parts of the
institution, including the
Museum Quadrangle, now the
Madejski Gardens, which
encompasses to east or right
hand side, the former
Sheepshanks Gallery, the oldest
surviving original gallery of the
South Kensington Museum; and
to the north, the Lecture Theatre
Block by Francis Fowke.
On the ground floor of the Lecture
Theatre Block are the museum’s
Refreshment Rooms, the oldest
museum public restaurant in the
Gamble Room of the V&A Refreshments Rooms, 2006
Copyright: V&A Images
world, opening in 1857. It consists of a suite of three rooms, the central one of which is the
Gamble Room.
This incredibly grand and opulent space has a semi-circular northern side, following the plan
of the Lecture Theatre which sits directly above it. At the back of this are stained glass
windows intended to hide the kitchens behind.
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The room itself was designed by James Gamble with Godfrey Sykes and Reuben Townroe.
The entire room is washable, with an enamelled iron ceiling and every surface covered in
ceramic tiles. Even the four large free-standing columns in the room are faced in majolica
tiles. The overall result is a glossy, highly coloured, opulent room.
Either side of the Gamble Room are the two smaller, less grandiose, but nevertheless
beautiful rooms. To the west is the Green Dining or Morris Room since it was one of the
first big jobs of the firm Morris Marshall & Faulkner. Philip Webb was responsible for the
overall design, and Burne-Jones painted the dado panels and designed the stained glass.
The room at the east end is the Grill Room designed by Edward Poynter. A more intimate
room with blue Dutch tiles set in wooden panelling, and larger tiled panels of figures
representing the seasons designed by art school students.
Congratulations on reaching the final stop on our tour of Albertopolis! I hope that you’ve
enjoyed the walk and that perhaps you can now treat yourself to a well-earned refreshment in
this historical venue.
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