RIBA North – National Architecture Centre, situated at Mann Island, opened its doors to the public on 17 June 2017. Join them this Saturday for birthday cake and the final chance to see their current exhibition, It Will Never Work.
RIBA North opened its doors to the public on 17 June 2017. The National Architecture Centre on Liverpool’s Waterfront will be celebrating this Saturday 16 June, which coincides with the last day of the It Will Never Work exhibition. The RIBA North team will be sharing birthday cake with visitors, whether you are a frequent guest or you’ve just not quite got round to visiting, yet.
Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards 2018
RIBA North recently won ‘Best Newcomer to the Visitor Economy’ against some stiff competition. It was decided by a large panel of Liverpool’s tourism industry leaders. This recognition shows that not only does RIBA North have important work to do in the field of architecture and design, but also as a cultural hub for the many visitors to the city looking for an intellectually stimulating experience. It was also acknowledged plans to work in partnership with local organisations factored heavily into the win.
Walking Tours
A Summer programme of walking tours means there are tours running every day the centre is open. Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage Site is made up of six different areas across the Waterfront and City. RIBA’s tours currently cover five of these areas. They are perfect for showing off the city to visitors, but also a great way to uncover hidden gems for residents. The RIBA volunteer guides have just been awarded the ‘Certificate of Excellence’ by TripAdvisor last week for consistent great reviews.
https://www.architecture.com/liverpoolcitytours
Visitor Figures
RIBA North took part in its first LightNight, which provided a record breaking day for visitor figures on Friday 16 May. Over one thousand people visited the centre to see the current exhibition and a fantastic commission by Jayson Haebich, recreating the Northern Lights in Gallery Two. RIBA North has welcomed over seventy thousand visitors in its first year and looks forward to an exciting programme that will entice many more local and visiting guests in future years.
It Will Never Work
It Will Never Work ends this weekend. This exhibition marks the 25th birthday of regeneration developers Urban Splash. Did you know their first project was Concert Square back in 1993? The exhibition will go on a tour of the UK after it leaves Liverpool. This is the first exhibition the centre has co-curated that will travel, this means that the RIBA North brand will travel with it.
Liverpool Biennial 2018
RIBA North’s next exhibition Hack the Root opens in July in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University and forms part of the Liverpool Biennial Contemporary Art Festival. The project involves a very exciting installation and exhibition by building scientist Mae-Ling Lokko. Bio-bricks will be manufactured at RIBA North out of mushrooms that are grown and dried in a large chamber in the City Gallery. These bricks will then form part of a structure that will be on display throughout the festival. RIBA North and the Biennial have also partnered with local arts and health initiative Squash Nutrition to outreach this project to the Toxteth community, for a series of workshops with local schools.
UNESCO – World Heritage Hub
RIBA North’s City Gallery has been designated as the UNESCO World Heritage Information Hub, enabling debate and to support the ongoing conversation about the regeneration of the Liverpool City Region’s heritage environment. The Digital City Model at RIBA North is an interactive 3D model that tells a variety of stories about Liverpool and the surrounding area. It is also an extraordinary professional tool, which can be used by developers, architects and planners to host public consultations, anticipate the impact of future development and encourage the best design approaches.
The model displays all six areas of the World Heritage Site and the buffer-zone that surrounds them, so that visitors can see exactly where these areas are and what they include in relation to proposed developments which interact or potentially interfere with them. Visitors can also add to this with one of our walking tours and discover more about the heritage of the city through its architecture.
Events at RIBA North
The centre has hosted over a hundred events in its first year. Its Bauhaus inspired interior makes it a fantastic modern and well-designed space for receptions, talks, training sessions, meetings and small conferences. RIBA North would like to thank all the companies and organisations that have utilised the spaces in many different ways, and look forward to welcoming many more.
The Future
RIBA North has many exciting projects in the pipeline working with partners from different backgrounds locally and internationally. A new independent local café partner will be announced imminently, bringing a delicious offering to Mann Island. Planning is well underway on a programme of thought-provoking exhibitions which highlight the way we will be living in the not-so-distant future, which not only fulfil the needs of the professional service ran by the RIBA, but will greatly appeal to a public audience, too.