Type Museum
Architectural style Avant-garde
Location Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Address Paternoster Row
Coordinates 53.3775°N 1.4660°WCoordinates: 53.3775°N 1.4660°W
Current tenants Sheffield Hallam University Students' Union
Completed February 1999
Inaugurated 1 March 1999
Cost £15 million (Lottery funded by £11m)
Owner Sheffield Hallam University
Technical details
Structural system Stainless steel drums
Design and construction
Architect Nigel Coates
Architecture firm Branson Coates
The National Centre for Popular Music was a museum in Sheffield, England, for contemporary music and culture, a £15 million project largely funded with contributions from the National Lottery, which opened on 1 March 1999, and closed in June 2000.
The building, designed by Branson Coates following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions, consists of four giant stainless steel drums, surrounding an atrium area, the upper floor of which has a glazed roof.[1]
Each of the drums has a rotating turret with a nozzle which is meant to turn with the wind and vent air. On the other side, an opening facing the wind takes inlet air down through wall cavities, being heated or cooled as required. Air is drawn out of the nozzle by buoyancy and wind pressure.[2]
The ground floor contained office space, a shop, a bar, a café and a further exhibition space. Access to this floor was free, with only the top floor forming the museum.
