Dezeen Magazine

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

Barcelona's new design museum is an angular metal-clad structure designed by local studio MBM Arquitectes (+ slideshow).

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

The seven-storey Museu del Disseny de Barcelona is located on the edge of Plaça de les Glories, next door to Jean Nouvel's Torre Agbar office tower. Due to the level changes across the site, the building has part of its volume buried beneath the ground and has public entrances on two of its floors.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

MBM Arquitectes divided the form of the building into two halves. The bottom section is a bulky volume with glazed walls and a grass roof, while the upper section is a top-heavy structure clad with pre-weathered aluminium panels on every side.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

Set to open in spring 2014, the museum will combine the decorative arts, ceramics, textiles and graphic design collections of four existing museums, which have now closed their doors.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

The main exhibition hall will be housed in the lower part of the building, while additional exhibitions will take place in galleries on the museum's upper floors. Other facilities include a large auditorium, a small hall, a public library, education rooms and a bar and cafe.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

The area surrounding the museum has been made into a lake, while the grass roof serves as a new public lawn overlooking the water.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

The Design Museum in London is also moving to a new home, as British architect John Pawson is developing the former Commonwealth Institute building.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

See more recent architecture in Barcelona, including a modular office block by Arata Isozaki and student housing at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes

Photography is by Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre.

Here's some more information from DHUB:


The new design headquarters in Barcelona

The building is the work of MBM Arquitectes, the architecture studio formed by Josep Martorell, Oriol Bohigas and David Mackay, together with Oriol Capdevila and Francesc Gual. The edifice is made up of two parts: one underground (which takes advantage of the slope created by urban development of the plaza) and another which emerges at 14.5 m (at the level of Plaça de les Glòries).

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes
Site plan - click for larger image

Construction below the height of 14.5m: Most of the surface area of the building is situated below the 14.5m level and is where the more significant installations are housed. They are distributed over two floors and a gallery, and include the main exhibition hall, rooms given over to management and preservation of the DHUB's collections, the main offices, Clot public library, the documentation centre (DHUBdoc) and rooms for research and educational activities, in addition to high-traffic services such as the bar, restaurant and store. Though below ground level, the basement floor receives natural light from a trench which is worked into the different ground levels and which features a huge lake, creating a dialogue with the outside. Lighting is reinforced with six skylights that look out over the public space and can also be used as showcases for the centre's contents and activities.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes
Lower floor plan - click for larger image

Construction above the height of 14.5m: This part of the building projects over the width of Carrer d'Àvila and has the shape of a slanted parallelepiped. In accordance with the general urban plan it occupies a minimum footprint, primarily in order not to reduce the space earmarked for public use, but also because the vicissitudes of plans to demolish the elevated road and change the tramline route severely limit the space available. The building cantilevers out towards the plaça, enabling the construction potential to be met while at the same time establishing a display of urban architecture over the motorway. This block will house the venues for long- and short-term temporary exhibitions, as well as a small hall and a large auditorium.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes
Middle levels floor plans - click for larger image

Entrance to both parts or bodies that compose the DHUB headquarters is gained through a single vestibule with two points of access: one in Carrer d'Àvila and another in Plaça de les Glòries. Passage through this part of the building is almost inevitable, as it forms a kind of corridor connecting Plaça de les Glòries, the 22@ technological district and Poblenou.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes
Upper levels floor plans - click for larger image

All of the services situated in the basement area can be reached from this semi-public plaza, as well as those on the upper floors by means of a system of escalators, staircases and lifts. While the different spaces have diverse dimensions and architectural characteristics, overall they form a conceptual whole in which the auditorium stands aloft as a fundamental and crowning feature.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes
Cross section one - click for larger image

Only two materials are used in the building's exterior, zinc plates and glass, bestowing an industrial feel with metallic accents on the building. The green carpet of the artificial flooring and bright graphics on the pavement are two of the primary components of the outside surfaces. In both cases, the elements employed (natural and manufactured) ensure sustainability and ease of maintenance. The lake, in addition to visually highlighting the work, creates a link between the different levels.

DHUB Museu del Disseny de Barcelona by MBM Arquitectes
Cross section two - click for larger image