Museum of LondonThe proposal for the new Museum of London in West Smithfield was a unique collaboration between our studio and Parisian architecture practice, Lacaton & Vassal. The project utilised the extraordinary assets of West Smithfield’s Victorian market halls to implement a rigorous and precise approach based on an economy of means used to maximum effect. Selected as the most promising of the six shortlisted designs by the Guardian’s architecture and design critic, Oliver Wainwright, our approach was awarded an honourable mention by the competition’s jury for its thoughtful, contemporary and refreshing design approach. The Museum of London’s new spaces at Smithfield together make up a unique London Ecology. We considered this found ecology a new piece of the Museum’s collection and our project created possibilities for the Museum to inhabit these extraordinary spaces with activity and would evolve in synergy with the place. It was not an act of force, but a delicate adaptation to make the most of what already exists. Adopting this attitude acknowledges the uniqueness of the place and champions its richness. The principle works were minimal, tailored interventions to increase connectivity, favour adjacencies, highlight qualities and improve circulation. A continuous and open ground plane would connect the market spaces and surrounding streets and give access to the collections below. Generously reinstating the permeable, public and flexible nature of Smithfield. A final layer was a collection of deployable architectural devices and technologies that would allow the Museum – with minimal means – to expand its programme and become a flexible and evolving Fun Palace for the city. Design: Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio and Lacaton & Vassal Architectes |  |  |  |  |  |  |