Completion of the rough construction of Turner Contemporary by David Chipperfield

At the end of last year, the rough construction of the Turner Contemporary museum in Margate, in the English county of Kent, was completed. The current design of the museum is based on the project by London architect David Chipperfield, who took over the project in mid-2006 after Snøhetta. The project is being developed on the coast at the site of the former home of English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, who is considered a predecessor of Impressionism.
The commission was awarded in 2001 based on an international competition to the Norwegian office Snøhetta. The competition attracted 150 architectural teams at that time. Snøhetta increased the original budget of 7 million pounds to 50 million pounds. The planned opening date in 2004 was not achieved, which is why a new competition was organized, in which David Chipperfield's project was selected from six invited firms, with a price of 17.4 million pounds.
The Turner Contemporary museum consists of a two-story building on a base designed to protect it from tidal water. The prominent mass of the museum is derived from the composition of six identical volumes with a glass shed roof, allowing favorable northern light to penetrate inside. The exhibition spaces will offer views of the open sea as well as the historic town. The exterior walls will be clad in white glass panels. The completion of the museum is scheduled for early 2011.
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