(for Wilkinson Eyre Architects)

Chikako was the project architect for the multi award-winning Mary Rose Museum from the inception to the completion. This new build is to provide a permanent home for the hull of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favourite warship, and the display of many thousands of the ship’s original artefacts. Housed within a dry dock, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, the hull could not be moved and would continue to undergo conservation treatment throughout construction. Located within Portsmouth Historic Dockyard next to HMS Victory, the project called for an extraordinarily sensitive and considered design approach.  

The architectural design took an inside-out approach, cradling the hull at the centre of the new museum.  Only half of the original ship was salvaged from the seabed of the Solent near Portsmouth in 1982 and a virtual hull has been created alongside this to represent the missing section. The retrieved artefacts are displayed in the context galleries, which run the full length and levels corresponding to the original ship. Through the atmospheric lighting and sound effects in the ship hall, the immersive experience of life onboard the ship was re-created. 

The exterior of the building is elegant in its form, derived from vernacular maritime architecture. The traditional construction method of ship building was implemented to the dark stained timber cladding creating the double curved building envelope. The discreet enclosure protects and hides the sparkle of its contents like a jewellery box. 

Project Data : https://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/projects/mary-rose-museum