I never met him but I've spent a good proportion of my life in spaces designed by him, at the Royal Society of Arts in London.
Founded in 1754, the RSA commissioned the Adam Brothers to construct their headquarters, and the rather fine (and gracefully proportioned) RSA House opened in the 1770s.
It was part of a radical scheme -- the construction of a purpose-designed urban quarter, a pioneering piece of town planning by the Brothers.
Underneath the tight grid of Georgian properties there was a vast expanse of brick-lined storage vaults opening onto quays on the River Thames. The industrial depths and the gracious heights were completely separated, but in the 1980s the RSA bought the vaults beneath their property and commissioned Sam Lloyd to turn them from a wine merchant's store (the racks were still in situ) into a conference centre.
Sam restored the glorious industrial brickwork to its Georgian finery, but the additions -- like lift shafts, a kitchen, toilets, and a pair of sweeping staircases -- were in a determinedly modern style, never competing or arguing with the Georgian original, never trying to trump it, but simply there, good design, well thought-out.
He chose his materials carefully, but he also made ingenious use of the original features -- the natural rake of what had been a covered street down to the quays was utilised when the space was enclosed and turned into a near-perfect lecture theatre.
The drama of these spaces stands in stark contrast to the elegant, formal beauty of the Georgian rooms above, and it is to Sam Lloyd's credit that he made them feel all of a part in a coherent building. He was a subtle and refined man, whose work was the same.
3 comments:
What beautiful brick work as well as beautiful vaulting. I don't know why I find old bricks nicer than new ones. All bricks were new at one time.
Part of it may be due to the fact that the old bricks were hand-made -- they have a little more "personality" than industrially-made bricks while the centuries of "weathering" have made them crumble a little, which adds further to their individuality.
These vaults are particularly intriguing because of course they weren't designed to be put "on show" but were merely the cheapest form of industrial building you could imagine -- the Georgian equivalent of breeze blocks.
I also think the various alterations, repairs and changes made over the ages adds to their charm.
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