RSHP wins contest to overtake Bayeux Tapestry Museum

The British observe, initially co-founded by the late Richard Rogers, is known to have been picked from round 300 entries, beating three different finalists to finally land the job.

RSHP has earlier museum expertise, having designed an extension to the British Museum in London, the Louvre Liévin Conservation Centre accomplished in 2019, and most famously the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

The Metropolis of Bayeux launched the competitors in August 2021 to overtake its current Bayeux Tapestry Museum, situated within the Grand Seminaire in Bayeux since 1983. The temporary requested groups the way to enhance the situations and presentation of the tapestry, improve the customer reception and museum expertise and tackle ‘the city integration of the museum and its up to date extension’. 

Judges unanimously chosen RSHP, previously Rogers Stirk Harbour + Companions (an evolution of RRP, the observe Richard Rogers co-founded with John Younger, Marco Goldschmied and Mike Davies), from 4 unnamed candidates, following deliberations earlier this month. 

The jury was chaired by the Mayor of Bayeux and composed of 15 individuals together with historians, architects and landscapers. The Metropolis of Bayeux stated the jury ranked RSHP first ‘for the standard of its architectural and heritage response to the location’.

The 46-year-old observe, which employs 180 individuals throughout its workplaces in London, Paris, Melbourne, Sydney, Shanghai, Shenzhen and New York, known as it a ‘privilege and a duty’ to be designing the ‘distinctive, fragile, emblematic’ tapestry’s new house. 

RSHP companion Stephen Barrett stated: ‘As a British observe with an extended historical past of working in France, there’s poetry in with the ability to contribute to a venture that symbolises the deep connections between our two nations, renewing these bonds and serving to the subsequent generations of their rediscovery of the tapestry.’

Bayeux’s head of museums, tourism and heritage Loïc Jamin stated the choice got here as a ‘shock for us’, albeit a ‘good’ one, including: ‘The selection of a British architect is sort of an emblem. We’ll certainly work collectively to focus on a common work, emblematic of a historical past shared by the Normans and the English.’ 

Jamin confirmed the sketches of the long run Bayeux Tapestry Museum could be unveiled to the general public ‘on the finish of summer time’, whereas the revamped museum is scheduled to open between 2027-28. 

The Metropolis of Bayeux is now coming into negotiations with RSHP for the award of the contract, and can handle the venture in shut collaboration with the state and the proprietor of the tapestry, in addition to the Normandy Area and the Division of Calvados. 

RSHP’s entry was additionally praised for its ‘scenographic, multimedia and audiovisual’ strategy, which confirmed a ‘good practical and technical understanding of the constructing and out of doors amenities’, and ‘consistency by way of price range with the estimated price range and schedule’. 

Present RSHP initiatives embrace the Montparnasse masterplan in Paris, an extension to the British Library in London, UK and 5 new metro stations in Melbourne, Australia.