A new café and pergola structure designed with Reed Watts architects for the V&A Museum, London and installed in the John Madejski Garden courtyard of the V&A.
In order to limit the impact on the day to day running of the Museum, the steel frame was designed to be prefabricated in short and lightweight sections that would be carried through the Museum to the courtyard overnight.
We assessed the existing build-up under the courtyard and were satisfied that the new steelwork could be built off the existing build-up, avoiding the need for new foundations.
Steel connections were designed for simple disassembly and the areas of existing stone finish that were removed for the column base connections were set aside so that they could be re-instated. This means that the structure can easily be removed or adapted to accommodate the Museum’s ever-changing programme and activities taking place in the garden.
Thanks to careful planning and close collaboration with the client and the rest of the design team, the project was delivered exceptionally quickly. Following a design period of only three months, installation took just two weeks.
Completed 2018.
