Zaha Hadid buys the Design Museum

The Design Museum’s Shad Thames home is to be sold to Zaha Hadid Architects for a reported £10 million.

 

Design Museum

Source: photo Luke Hayes

The Design Museum’s current Shad Thames home

It is understood that the building will be used to store Hadid’s archive, as well as hosting architectural exhibitions.

The Design Museum will move from Shad Thames to its new home at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington High Street, west London, in late 2015.

The Conran Foundation, which paid for the museum’s original design and construction, owns the Shad Thames Lease, and the proceeds of the site’s sale will be used towards the new museum’s construction.

Design Museum view
A visualisation of the Design Museum’s new Commonwealth Institute home

Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, says, ‘Whilst we are sad to be leaving Shad Thames we are leaving the building in the best possible hands, the sale is a significant moment in the museum’s relocation plans and a substantial contribution towards our new home.’

Zaha Hadid says, ‘This important acquisition of the Shad Thames site will preserve its significance and we look forward to the future use and occupation of the building.’

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  • Random Number November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Any one but Hadid. What about that lovely Foster chap or Rogers, anyone.Literally.

    Wouldn’t have thought the museum’s ultra modernist, almost brutally simple white cube layout was the natural bed fellow for Hadid’s spiky, fluidy twisty, computer generatedy squiggles.

    (sigh) Love the DM building and its location, sad times, will be missed. Hope its worth visiting again in the future…

    Literally, anyone else.

  • Justin Kiszegi November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    If the design museum wants more visitors why is it relocating to Kensington? The heart of Londons creative community is moving east. Is it because Deyan Sudjic has a Kensington Pad and wants an easier commute?

  • Random Number November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    lol@Justin Kiszegi. Agree on all counts

  • Trevor Stanesby November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    In terms of property in London, the size of this building, its history and riverside location… it sounds like a bargain! What’s going on?

  • Random Number November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    @trevor: mates rates

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