Buro Happold-engineered gallery to attract art lovers to the North East
Buro Happold provided structural engineering and building services design for Middlesbrough’s new world-class modern art facility, which opened January 26 2007.
The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) forms a striking piece of contemporary architecture within a square that, together with the gallery, forms part of a regeneration project to transform a neglected area of the North East town.
Engineers from Buro Happold’s structural, building services and security disciplines who worked on the project will be joining Mayor of Middlesbrough, Roy Mallon, for the official opening ceremony and a preview of the inaugural exhibition Drawing, Conversations Around the Legacy of Drawing’. MIMA will then open to the general public on January 30. Works by artists such as LS Lowry and David Hockney will be on display.
Designed by Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects, MIMA is a four-storey building comprising a full height open foyer, a boxed section housing the main galleries and art storage area, and a three-storey wing to the west where the administration offices, café and an open roof terrace are located.
The engineering design of MIMA presented a significant challenge to multi-disciplinary consulting engineer Buro Happold; with the primary objective to create a structure that encloses the exhibition space and fully integrates with the building services systems. This has created a building that is utilitarian yet innovative.
MIMA has a combination of facades. The wing structure is clad in undulating white limestone that extends into the building, projecting onto the hung curtain and wall supporting the main staircase. The front foyer is glazed, while minimal white render with what looks like randomly spotted metal mesh boxes cleverly hides the plants at the back of the building.
The hung curtain and wall supporting the main staircase form part of the key features of the building. The wall supporting the staircase leans towards the building by one degree to support the reinforced concrete staircase and the adjacent floors. It is formed by a steelwork truss that bridges over the entrance area and connects to a braced frame within the wall construction of the upper floors. This complements the architecture by keeping the under croft of the foyer, where the external façade extends into the building, free of any structural obstructions.
The hung curtain is a trapezoidal structure suspended from the roof - 12m at the longest end and gradually decreasing up the main staircase. It is held laterally by a section of slab on the second floor, which forms a bridge overlooking the front foyer. Outside the glazed façade to the front of the building is a 15m-tall colonnade of elliptical hollow sections with 30 stainless steel tension cables19mm in diameter. These cables, arranged along the building line, are part of the architectural scheme and extend from the cantilevered roof to a ground beam.
Buro Happold Project Leader, Mark Owen, said: “The architects desired a clean lined building, with every single element meticulously detailed. Buro Happold’s engineering teams worked closely with the client, the project team and each other to ensure we delivered a building that not only functioned with the given brief, but is like a piece of modern art in itself that will attract art lovers to the North East and be the pride of Middlesbrough.”
Another key feature of MIMA is the integration of building services systems with the structural frame. The structure of MIMA was developed to allow the primary distribution routes for mechanical, electrical and public health services to be incorporated with minimal floor zones by running the services through customised web openings in beams. This solution, albeit cost effective, was a very highly-engineered solution, which the Buro Happold team successfully delivered through close teamwork and detailed coordination.
Buro Happold building services engineer, Cathy Fagan, said: “A tremendous effort went into co-ordinating the web openings with the services routes to ensure precision. MIMA is a great example of an energy efficient, stable and cost effective building design. Minimal glazing on the east, west and south elevations, together with the large thermal mass and stringent air tightness requirements of the galleries, indicates that the gallery will exceed the performance of a notional building of the same size, shape and orientation.”
The client specifically required for each gallery to feel like a day lit space. Despite the unavailability of natural light, this was achieved by the design of bespoke light boxes. The light boxes also intelligently integrate the track lighting and the ventilation system with an overall effect of minimising the visual intrusion of services into the gallery spaces.
Project team:
Client: Middlesbrough Council
Architect: Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects
Buro Happold services: Structural engineering, building services design and security
Main contractor: Miller Construction
M&E contractors: Hayden Young
Quantity surveyor: Gardiner & Theobold
Planning Supervisor: PFB Consultants
Project Manager: Turner & Townsend
Ends
Buro Happold
Press office and practice information at www.burohappold.com
For images of MIMA or for more information about the structural engineering or building services design, please contact:
Louise Hawgood
Press officer
Tel +44 (0)1225 320600 ext.2178
Fax +44 (0)8707 874148
Email louise.hawgood@burohappold.com
Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. It offers civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building services and environmental engineering, health and safety management, infrastructure and traffic engineering, ground engineering, façade engineering, fire engineering, computational fluid dynamics analysis, disability design consultancy, project management, urban design and a range of specialist CAD services.
