12th August 2024

Perega shatters glass ceilings with immense Moco Museum designs

Moco Museum, which has become renowned for its captivating exhibits and modern art collections, is expanding its international footprint with a new attraction in London’s West End. This follows the runaway success of its Amsterdam and Barcelona locations, with this latest site set to captivate and inspire visitors through a unique artistic experience.

With an ambitious vision for the new space, the client and architect needed to work with a trusted structural engineering partner to achieve some of the ambitious features specified in the design brief.

With decades of experience working on cultural buildings, our team of glass and façade engineers were brought onto the project in April 2024, by Central Glass and Glazing and main contractor OD Group to design a range of glass screens around the museum. Three were located at the entrance lobby, separating it from the exhibition space which will house works from the likes of Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Banksy and other renowned modern contemporary artists.

A complex undertaking, one of these screens is a large, demountable structure approximately 3.6m high and 3.8m wide, formed from one panel. It will provide an oversized access point for art pieces and display items as large as a small tank. Other screens are located between the exhibition area and the shop incorporating frameless sliding door leaves.

Our expertise guaranteed the screens are adequately supported, using a structural steel framework which was set within the internal wall construction in order to provide the required structural stability and aesthetic appeal. The work was not without its challenges, and the positioning of these glass elements required careful consideration of differential movement between the ceiling and floor to prevent doors from binding and ensure smooth operation.

Our Associate, Rob Parsell, who worked closely on the project says, “Our work at Moco is a great example of Perega’s adaptability and experience in the glass and glazing field, with the team completing all calculations and submitting them to the client in just ten days. It’s a great example of how our team is able to work creatively and efficiently, cementing our relationship as agile-thinking engineers.

“Beyond Moco, we have an impressive portfolio of museum projects in London and beyond, including door surveys at the British Museum, work at the Natural History Museum, and designing screens and glass balustrades at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Dundee V&A.”

For more information about Perega’s work on innovative glazing projects, click here.