A team led by UK-based architect Feilden Fowles has won the international competition to design the £16.5m Central Hall building for the National Railway Museum in York, UK.
The 4,500m2 Central Hall building is said to be a key element of the museum’s Vision 2025 masterplan, which aims to create the ‘world’s railway museum’ and includes a 1,000m2 gallery to showcase the future of railway technology.
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Feilden Fowles team proposed a copper-clad two-storey rotunda which is said to reference the history of locomotive roundhouses and railway turntables.
Additionally, the proposed design reduces reliance on concrete and steel by creating a timber frame structure as well as reduces the site-wide operational carbon footprint by 80%.
National Railway Museum director Judith McNicol said: “The winning design centres around a beautifully crafted timber frame rotunda which, through the use of recycled and locally sourced materials, will dramatically reduce the museum’s carbon footprint.
“Feilden Fowles demonstrated a real sensitivity to the site’s railway heritage and to the historic character of the city of York. The building will play a vital role in linking the museum and will provide a focal point for the wider York Central development.”
The masterplan forms part of a wider brownfield regeneration project, York Central, which involves the creation of a new park and green spaces and deliver up to 2,500 new homes.
Science Museum Group board of trustees chair and York Central strategic board chair Dame Mary Archer said: “If anything, the wider situation has strengthened the resolve of the Science Museum Group to move forward with our transformational plans for our five sites outside London, investing in a sustainable future and playing our part in keeping culture at the heart of our communities.”
Feilden Fowles’ design team comprises Max Fordham MEP (Services) Engineer and Price and Myers, a consulting civil and structural engineering firm.
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Illustration of the Feilden Fowles’ proposed Central Hall building design. (Credit: National Railway Museum)
