Student-designed structure opens at The Manchester Museum

An exciting new temporary structure - Reflective Room – has opened in the courtyard of The Manchester Museum.

It was chosen as the winning design in a competition between 5th year Architecture students from the Prototype and Re_Map studio units at the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA).

The Courtyard Project invited students to design an environment within the space outside the Museum’s main entrance off Oxford Road to complement their summer exhibitions programme.

Re-engage with surroundings

Inspired by the changes that unfold in the courtyard over the course of the day, the Reflective Room team designed a new environment in which people can reflect and re-engage with their surroundings.

Using everyday materials, including plywood and black glazed ceramic tiles, Reflective Room is intended as both a physical and contemplative experience.

Fabricating a room within the courtyard space enables people to sit and relax whilst reviving their awareness of the environment. Enclosing the space reduces it to a more accessible human size, enabling the courtyard to be revealed in a less direct way. Edges, materials, weather and the surrounding environment become more apparent through subtle reflections.

Successful collaboration

The student design team from the Prototype unit was led by Matthew Mills, 24, and assisted by Prototype unit leaders Ming Chung and Nick Tyson and Professor Neil Thomas from Atelier One Engineers.

Matthew commented: “I really like the site at the Museum, there are a lot of different qualities to the space and I wanted to create an area where people could sit and appreciate them.

“I assessed the reflective qualities of various materials, including polished wood and ceramics, at the location before settling for tiles. I hope people enjoy taking time out to relax in Reflective Room.”

Dr Nick Merriman, Director of The Manchester Museum, commented: “Reflective Room is a great example of collaboration between the Museum and the students and staff of the Manchester School of Architecture. It will bring real interest to our otherwise rather deserted courtyard and I very much hope that it will be the first of a series of installations in this space.”

84,000 visitors expected

Reflective Room was fabricated in the Art and Design Workshops at MMU and assembled by all students involved in the project.

It will stand in the courtyard at The Manchester Museum until October 2010 and an estimated 84,000 visitors are expected to see it over the summer.