Case study: Black Country Living by Napier Clarke Architects

Jun 24, 2023

The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum telling the story of one of the first industrialised landscapes in Britain. Alongside the museum’s historical industrial buildings and landscapes, our new visitor centre forms part of a major redevelopment and expansion project.

The centre is the key element of a reconfigured entrance sequence to enhance the experience for visitors – who can number up to 5,000 a day. The centre processes ticket sales, offers a brief introduction to the history of the Black Country and the museum itself and provides retail, café, office, exhibition and toilet facilities. The museum’s previous entrance building has been repurposed as a learning centre.

The new building is conceived as a contemporary reflection of the built heritage of the region and draws upon the forms and materials of the museum’s historic buildings, while presenting a modern addition to the ensemble. It is arranged as a series of staggered black vaulted roofs, reducing in footprint from west to east to give relief and space towards the neighbouring buildings, and set upon a brick plinth to give elevated views across the museum estate.

Steven Clarke, director, Napier Clarke Architects

Start on site December 2020Completion September 2022Gross internal floor area 1,530m²Construction cost £7.36 million(including car park and external works)Construction cost per m2 £3,300Architect Napier Clarke ArchitectsClient Black Country Living MusueumStructural engineer Donald McIntyre Design (stages 2, 3 and 4A), HSP Consulting Engineers (stages 4 and 5)M&E consultant BWB consulting (stages 2, 3 and 4), KGF Cox Consulting Engineers (stage 5)QS MDA ConsultingProject manager MDA ConsultingPrincipal designer Napier Clarke ArchitectsApproved building inspectorDudley Metropolitan Borough CouncilLandscape architect Redkite NetworkEmployer’s agent MDA ConsultingFire consultant IFC GroupAccoustic consultant BWB ConsultingAir test consultant StromaTransport consultant BWB ConsultingMain contractor Balfour BeattyCAD software used ArchiCADAnnual CO2 emissions 40.05 kgCO2/m2 (predicted), 35.07 kgCO2/m2 (actual)Predicted design life 50 years

The Black Country is famous for its ironworking foundries and steel industry and so we wanted to reflect this in our architectural response. We introduced a triangulated steel portal frame that is demountable and can be re-used. We introduced self-finished materials, where possible, to reduce the amount of layers and carbon emissions. We used FSC plywood and FSC natural wood fibre acoustic panels on the soffits, and a UK brick for internal and external walls, choosing darks selected for the gritty, industrial look we were after. The staircase and lower ground floor soffits are exposed precast concrete. In addition, we specified black, noncombustible VIEO standing seam cladding internally and externally to continue the industrial feel of the building. The large rooflights and north-facing glazing were introduced to maximise daylighting and minimise the need for artificial lighting.

Steven Clarke, director, Napier Clarke Architects

The project is the result of an international design competition that we won in 2017 and has remained faithful to our vision of a building that would take visual cues from the gritty industrial character of the Black Country.

In the café space, where visitors can enjoy elevated views, we used a triangulated steel frame with a cantilever – a simple structure that houses a series of flexible spaces within. The frame is fully expressed in the bright, vaulted admissions and entrance hall, lit from above by large rooflights set within plywood and natural wood fibre acoustic panels. Curtain glazing admits further daylight and provides views out. In contrast, the lower ground floor exhibition space is intentionally darker, with dark brick walls and dark steels supporting precast concrete panels and grey acoustic panels, evoking an industrial feel as visitors move towards the museum.

The building is predominantly passive in terms of energy, with natural ventilation, large overhangs for shading, air source heat pumps supporting underfloor heating and it is powered by electric only. The thermal mass of the precast concrete floors and stair and brick walls helps to moderate internal temperatures. Use of plasterboard was minimised to reduce the amount of cut waste and self-finished materials were used where possible.

Steven Clarke, director, Napier Clarke Architects

Cladding and roofingEurocladVIEO, PPC RAL 7021 externallyRAL 9006 internallyExternal envelope and internal wallseurocladgroup.com

Steel frameReynolds and LitchfieldBespoke painted, RAL 9007Structural framereynoldsandlitchfield.com

Windows and doorsKawneerVariations of Kawneer 70 system PPCRAL 7021Windows and doorskawneer.co.uk

Timber and acoustic soffitsTroldtekt timber and plywood supplied by installer Brightens PlasteringPlywood; natural wood fibre for acoustic panelsCeilingstroldtekt.com

Rooflights VeluxPPC frame, RAL 70Roofcommercial.velux.co.uk

WindcatcherMonodraughtPPC aluminium, RAL 7021Roofmonodraught.com

Precast concreteLangley concreteExposed concreteStair and floor panelslangleyconcretegroup.com

Architectural metalworkAMI SheffieldSteel, PPC RAL 9006 internally,RAL 7021 externallyBalustradesami-sheffield.co.uk

BricksFreshfield Lane, by MichelmershSelected darksExternal and internal wallsmbhplc.co.uk

Floor tilesMosaSelected darksExternal and internal floorsmosa.com

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TagsBlack Country Dudley Museum Napier Clarke