Three-quarters of £37 million project in south east London is underground

CF Møller Architects’ £37 million extension to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, south east London, opened to the public this week.

The 7,300 sq m Sammy Ofer Wing – named after the shipping magnate who funded it – was visited by Prince Philip for an opening ceremony.

The development provides a new main entrance, extra exhibition space and a new café, restaurant, library and archives for the museum which houses the world’s largest maritime collection.

Most of the Portland stone and concrete building is underground in order to protect the existing historic buildings.

Julian Weyer, partner at CF Møller, said: “It was a difficult architectural paradox to create a building that’s not very visible and yet is a grand new entrance to the museum.

“We solved it by dropping it down which feels natural since the landscape is all about coming down the hill.”

He said the design, though contemporary, was inspired by the baroque buildings’ rhythmic sequence of windows.

 

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