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Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios wins re-tendered bid for International Slavery Museum revamp in Liverpool

2024-01-23T19:04:00-05:00

National Museums Liverpool (NML) has named Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios as the replacement for Adjaye Associates on the design team for the new International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum.

The opportunity to replace Adjaye on the project came after the museum cut ties with his firm last summer following the revelation of sexual misconduct allegations in the Financial Times that preceded a string of high-profile project cancellations in the United States, the UK, and Saudi Arabia.

The NML redevelopment, which was first announced in 2021, has since increased in cost to £58 million (or about $73.5 million USD). Work will now begin once more from the RIBA Plan of Work scale's stage 3 (Spatial Coordination) through to the completion stage 7. The NML says this will entail adding an entirely new entrance inside the Martin Luther King Jr. building and additional major renovations to the site’s Hartley Pavilion.

Previously on Archinect: National Museums Liverpool re-tenders Slavery Mu...

National Museums Liverpool re-tenders Slavery Museum design contract after Adjaye departure

2023-09-19T18:55:00-04:00

National Museums Liverpool (NML) has issued a new tender for design contracts for the anticipated new Liverpool Slavery Museum a month after its original architect David Adjaye was formally removed from the project over sexual misconduct allegations that were first made public in June.

The announcement was picked up today by UK-based publications. NML says whoever is selected will shepherd the project from the RIBA Plan of Work scale's stage 3 (Spatial Coordination) to the completion stage 7 (Use) in coordination with community partners and the museum. The hope is for whoever takes over the project to complete the planned overhauls of Albert Dock's existing Hartley Pavilion and the Martin Luther King Jr. Building, which houses the new museum. Ralph Appelbaum Associates will remain on as the project’s exhibition designers as well.

Previously on Archinect: David Adjaye accused of sexual misconduct by three former employees

Adjaye had already stepped away from the larger waterfront rede...

Liverpool's International Slavery Museum cuts ties with Adjaye over misconduct allegations

2023-08-15T10:49:00-04:00

The forthcoming International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England has formally terminated their contract with Adjaye Associates over allegations involving its director’s misconduct with women first surfaced in a Financial Times report in the first week of July.

Adjaye had already left the larger Canning Dock redevelopment project over a year ago, though his design (with Ralph Appelbaum Associates) for the remade museum was still in tow and worth a reported £57 million (or about $72 million USD). The design, which calls for an overhaul of the existing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. building, will still be pursued by National Museums Liverpool (NML), albeit with a different architect they will select following the rewarding of a new tender that was announced along with the cancellation.

With the announcement, the NLM joins a growing list of other entities to have split with Adjaye that includes the UK Holocaust Memorial team, Vermont's Shelburne Museum, the City of Cleveland, and the A...

National Museums Liverpool releases new Asif Khan and Theaster Gates-led waterfront development proposals

2023-04-19T15:06:00-04:00

Weeks after the announcement that David Adjaye and Mariam Kamara would be leaving the project, National Museums Liverpool (NML) has unveiled its revised vision for the redevelopment of the city’s waterfront area co-authored by Asif Khan and Theaster Gates respectively.

Under their direction, a pair of interconnected proposals are now being advanced. The scope of the projects includes a newly-created public realm, pedestrian footbridge, and visitors’ pavilion in the place of two historic dry docks that are linked to the overhauled International Slavery Museum, Maritime Museum, and the Museum of Liverpool, which all tell their story.

Image courtesy National Museums Liverpool (NML)

The NML says it hopes the development will work to present a “prototype for a fresh new mode of co-production between community partners and museums.”

Image courtesy National Museums Liverpool (NML)

Khan says the project must in the end work to help the city recon...

David Adjaye, Mariam Kamara depart major Liverpool waterfront project

2023-03-29T17:04:00-04:00

Two big-name architects are departing from the National Museums Liverpool (NML) scheme to create a new public realm at the city’s Canning Dock, according to a report published earlier today by the Architects’ Journal.

David Adjaye and Mariam Kamara are now out of the project team for the redevelopment, which includes Asif Khan, Theaster Gates, Arup, and a host of other UK-based firms.

The team first was first announced as the winners of an international competition in October of 2021. Adjaye will reportedly remain on to finish their International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum restorations, which are both separate projects. Neither architect has provided a statement addressing the changes at press time.

An aerial view of Canning Dock. Image: Gary W. Smith

A spokesperson from the museum told AJ simply, “Once the direction of the project was established, the collective agreed that Khan and Gates would take the project forward.”

Ultimately, the £75 million ($92.4 million) project wi...