Cliffs of Concrete
Cliffs of Concrete
The V&A Dundee, Scotland’s first design museum, features a dramatic inverted
pyramid design
by Deborah R. Huso
A
concrete fortress balanced over the edge of the River London—served as project architect through the duration of
Tay, the V&A Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, is the the building’s design and construction. “Kuma and I visited
country’s first design museum (Fig. 1). Featuring the site, which is quite special, being on a one-km-wide [0.6
dramatic horizontal ledges of precast concrete, the three-story mile] estuary of the river,” he says. “It’s an impressive setting,
building’s shape is that of two inverted pyramids (Fig. 2). Up and the city of Dundee wanted us to reconnect the city with
close, the striated façade invokes images of the cliffs of the the river.”
Scottish coastline (Fig. 3). From a distance, the building’s
form evokes a sturdy ship—a nod to the city’s shipbuilding
history (Fig. 4).
Designed by Tokyo-based Kengo Kuma & Associates, the
complex structure of the £93 million ($121 million USD)
museum supports exterior walls that twist both horizontally
and vertically. The building also features a cantilevered
“prow” that extends nearly 20 m (65 ft) beyond the building’s
footprint. Throughout the design phases, the architect and
engineering firm Arup, based in London, the United Kingdom,
used three-dimensional (3-D) modeling to plan the building.
Structural Gymnastics
The building design was prompted by an international
design competition sponsored by the city of Dundee in 2010.
Maurizio Mucciola—formerly of Kengo Kuma & Associates
but now directing his own design firm, PiM Studio in
Fig. 2: The building has the form of two inverted pyramids (photo
courtesy of HUFTON + CROW)
Project Credits
“It was a very slow build,” Tavendale remarks. “But all Owner: Dundee City Council
those structural gymnastics were on the ground floor. Once Design Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates
you get to the second floor, everything straightens up.” Structural Engineer: Arup
Project Manager: Turner & Townsend
The Crowning Touch Contractor: BAM Construct UK
The application of 2429 precast concrete panels— Subcontractor: Careys Civil Engineering
manufactured by Techcrete based in Dublin, Ireland— Precast Concrete Producer: Techcrete
established the appearance of a cliff face on the building’s
exterior (Fig. 10). Techcrete applied a retarding agent onto the Selected for reader interest by the editors.
formwork to allow for the removal of a superficial layer of
concrete, exposing some of the large aggregate and
Deborah R. Huso is Creative Director and
enhancing the rough surface of the panels.
Founding Partner of WWM, Charlottesville,
Each precast panel was attached to the structure with
VA, USA. She has written for a variety of
brackets. Additionally, a 300 mm gap between adjacent planks
trade and consumer publications, such
was designed to create the “stacked” appearance of the walls.
as Precast Solutions, U.S. News and
The precast panels weighed up to 2000 kg (4410 lb) with World Report, Concrete Construction,
spans of up to 4 m (13 ft). The high loads and complex and Construction Business Owner. She
geometry complicated the design of the connections to the has provided website development and
thin and heavily reinforced walls. Drilling into the cast-in- content strategy for several Fortune 500
place walls would risk weakening the structure, so the team companies, including Norfolk Southern and GE.
cast channel anchors into the walls, using a total station to
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La traducción de este
Resultado exitoso.
artículo correspondió a la
Sección Puerto Rico.
Créditos del Proyecto
Título: Precipicios de Concreto.
Dueño: Dundee City Council
Arquitecto de Diseño: KengoKuma & Associates
Ingeniero Estructural: Arup
Gerente de Proyecto: Turner & Townsend
Contratista: BAM Construct UK
Subcontratista: Careys Civil Engineering
Traductor: José M. Mejía Borrero
Productor de Concreto Prefabricado: Techcrete