Ten key initiatives by high-tech pioneer Michael Hopkins

Following the information that high-tech pioneer and RIBA Royal Gold Medalist Michael Hopkins has died, we check out the important thing initiatives that outlined his 50-year profession.

Probably the most influential British architects of the previous century, Michael Hopkins was a key determine main the event of the high-tech type within the Seventies, 80s and 90s.

Alongside his spouse Patty Hopkins he lead Hopkins Architects, and the couple had been collectively awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1994.

Right here we check out a few of the studio’s key initiatives from its high-tech beginnings to extra traditionally routed buildings and Olympic venues:

Hopkins Home, London, UK (1976)

Designed by Michael and Patty Hopkins as their very own dwelling, Hopkins Home (above and prime) was accomplished shortly after the couple established their studio, and have become the calling card for the duo’s ethos.

Constructed alongside Victorian mansions and Regency villas within the north London suburb of Hampstead, the two-storey home was comprised of light-weight metal and glass and is accessed throughout a drawbridge.

Greene King warehouse, Bury St Edmunds, UK (1980)

Like most of the early high-tech buildings, the storage and distribution area for the Greene King Brewery in Bury St Edmunds is an industrial shed.

Raised above the flood plain on a sequence of concrete columns, the two,600-square-metre shed was topped with a steel-truss-roof that extends above the loading bay.

Schlumberger Analysis Centre, Cambridge, UK (1985)

One other early high-tech constructing designed by Hopkins Architects, the analysis centre for Schlumberger is outlined by three tent-like constructions hung from a community of cables supported by a sequence of masts.

The tented constructions, that are comprised of Teflon-coated glass fibre, enclose a central area designed to comprise a drilling-rig check station together with a social area referred to as the winter backyard. These constructions had been surrounded by two independently structured wings that comprise places of work and laboratories.

Mound Stand, London, UK (1987)

One of many first initiatives by the studio that was in-built a historic context, Hopkins Architects’ stand was constructed above the present Nineteenth-century, brick Mound Stand at Lord’s cricket floor.

The construction was supported on six columns that reach as much as develop into masts from which a PVC-coated, polyester cloth roof was hung. The construction was designed to recall “the romantic picture of a tent by a village cricket inexperienced”.

Glyndebourne Opera Home (1994)

Set alongside a pink brick neo-Elizabethan mansion, the Glyndebourne Opera Home was designed to be a extremely purposeful, 1,200-seat venue that was sympathetic to its historic location.

The oval-shaped constructing was sunk 10 metres into the bottom to disguise its scale and was constructed from hand-made Hampshire pink brick to recall the neighbouring constructing. Nevertheless, it was topped with a outstanding, high-tech fly tower.

Westminster Underground Station, London, UK (1999)

Constructed as a part of the Jubilee line extension of the London Underground, the station is outlined by its seen superstructure of colossal metal tubes and concrete piers.

The construction additionally helps the Portcullis Home workplace block that was constructed instantly above it.

Portcullis Home, London, UK (1999)

Inbuilt a historic location alongside the Palace of Westminster, the six-storey Portcullis Home is an instance of Hopkins Architects’ high-tech classicism.

The block incorporates 200 places of work for Members of Parliament and is wrapped in sandstone pillars separated by metal canopies and window packing containers and topped with 14 air flow chimneys. It was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2001.

Evelina Kids’s Hospital, London, UK (2005)

The second of 4 of the studio’s buildings to be shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, the Evelina Kids’s Hospital was designed to be “a state-of-the-art facility for kids that did not look or really feel like a hospital”.

Set virtually instantly reverse the Palace of Westminster in central London, the constructing consists of two lengthy blocks that flank a skylight central atrium, which incorporates ready areas and a restaurant.

Kroon Corridor, Yale, USA (2009)

Designed to show the values of the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Research, Kroon Corridor was created to be probably the most sustainable constructing at Yale college and when it accomplished, the studio believes it was the “greenest college constructing within the USA”.

Constructed utilizing native supplies together with Briar Hill stone and Yale forest timber, the constructing included rooftop photovoltaics, photo voltaic scorching water heaters, rainwater harvesting and floor supply warmth pumps. It was awarded an LEED-Platinum sustainability ranking.

Velodrome, London, UK (2011)

One of many signature buildings constructed to host the 2012 Olympic Video games, the 6,000-seat venue velodrome is outlined by its hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped roof.

The constructing’s kind, and its cable web roof, had been designed to scale back the general quantity of the constructing with “the compact, ergonomic kind – affectionately referred to as the Pringle – expressing the constructing’s operate”.