The Central Atrium
1997
Walk through the entrance and the building opens into a tall atrium that rises the full height of the North Building. Curved balconies wrap around the void at every level, their grey stone faces catching the daylight that pours through a roof of glass held up by a lattice of steel tubes. Bridges cross from one side to the other, and from the ground you can see visitors moving along them like figures in an architectural model. The atrium is the museum's spine: every exhibition hall opens off it, and if you lose your way you simply come back here and look up.
The space is worth a few minutes of attention in its own right. The balconies are not stacked in straight lines but curve and step back, so that the void changes shape as you climb. The steel space frame above is left bare, a deliberate reminder that this is a museum about how things are built. Look for the ceiling spotlights set into the underside of each balcony, the mosaic panels of broken white tile on some of the curved walls, and the long banners that hang down the void to announce the current special exhibitions. On a bright day the light shifts across the stone as clouds pass over the roof.
The atrium also does practical work. Escalators and lifts sit at its edges, information counters and ticket desks are on the ground floor, and the entrance to the giant screen cinema is signposted from here. School groups gather in the open space before splitting up to the halls. For a photograph, stand at the centre of the ground floor and shoot straight up towards the roof, or go to the top floor and look down into the well.
Did You Know? The atrium was designed so that visitors on any floor can see the glass roof, which is why the balconies curve back as they rise.
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