Design Museum

Building: Former Commonwealth Institute, 1962
Interior: John Pawson, 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom

The Design Museum in London, the former Commonwealth Institute, transformed in 2016 with an oak interior by John Pawson beneath its 1962 copper roof. The images follow a visitor’s route through the stacked galleries, where the roof’s geometry is the constant overhead. Published on Archinect, 2026.

Oak-lined gallery and atrium beneath the copper roof, Design Museum, London

Atrium with a hexagonal carpet installation seen from above, Design Museum

Pixel mosaic along the balustrade beneath the roof structure, Design Museum

Visitor at a gallery edge under the hyperbolic paraboloid roof, Design Museum

Stacked galleries beneath the concrete roof soffit, Design Museum

Oak staircase rising to the mosaic balustrade, Design Museum

Mosaic balustrade beneath the sweeping roof, Design Museum

Design Kitchen café seen across the atrium beneath the roof

Long oak balustrade leading through the upper gallery, Design Museum

Oak stair framed by angled handrails, Design Museum

Stair and mosaic wall seen from the top gallery, Design Museum

Visitor on an oak walkway beside the atrium void, Design Museum

Display wall of lamps and hairdryers in the permanent collection, Design Museum

Red “Maker” panel and easels in a gallery, Design Museum

Roof soffit and upper gallery framed from below, Design Museum

Glazed clerestory at the edge of the copper roof, Design Museum