BARCHIVE

Brief: To design BARchive - a hybrid space between an archive and a bar. This coupling of uses seems at first sight incongruous. The archive is a space for storage; secure, silent and orderly; a space of restricted access and control conditions of humidity, light and temperature. The bar is a space for escapism; atmospheric, noisy and crowded; a space that facilitates unexpected encounters, intimate conversations and alcohol-fuelled fun. 

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Client: Ben Kelly, one of the UK’s most influential designers. He has directed successful and innovative projects across the UK, Europe and Asia. He is best known for his interior design of the legendary nightclub, The Haçienda in Manchester. His practice has produced influential work for 180 The Strand, Virgil Abloh, The Natural History Museum, Gymbox etc. 

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Concept: ‘Constructivism’, is a form of modern architecture that developed in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. The style incorporated straight lines, cylinders, cubes and rectangles; and merged elements of the modern age such as radio antennae, tension cables, concrete frames and steel girders.

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Strategy & Programme: Floating pod-like clouds which enables the students, staff and the public to explore Ben Kelly’s archive. Mixed activities of drinking, gathering and sharing are organised around a plan of cylinder and linear elements .