Idea Store

Architect: David Adjaye
2005 Whitechapel London














"Nominated for the Stirling Prize in 2006, the White Chapel Idea Store is the flagship building of a programme based on a new type of information and learning provision being pioneered by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The brief called for 4,500m2 of floor place, 415m2 of witch is retail, the reminder, a mix of library and education space.
The building is conceived as a simple stack of flexible floor "plates" wrapped in a unified facade that combines transparency with colour. A courtain wall consisting of a reppeting pattern of coloured glass, clear glass and glass faced aluminium panels, enclouses all four facades. Information display is a key element of the facade concept and reinforces the idea of the building as a disseminator of information.
The linearity of the large, daily street market that continues beneath the atrium provides the template for the internal organisation of the Idea Store itself. The market's striped canopies are referenced in the colour glass. Each floor it's arranged like a promenade that reveals the services and the facilities on offer whilst affording arresting views of the surronding area. On whitechapel road, the 5 storey heigh atrium, extends out over the pavement and, in conjuction with the street level escalator attracts people in and up. The cafe is placed in the top floor to draw people past the various facilities on offer and rewards them with panoramic views of the City of London Skyline"

by David Adjaye