neiheiser argyros cloaks london underground exhaust vents with perforated screen

london and athens-based architecture studio neiheiser argyros presents its recently completed ‘north greenwich screen,’ designed in dialogue with the adjacent ‘tide’ elevated linear park. the project is defined as a perforated metal screen rising over 45 feet that wraps a london underground exhaust vent and fire escape. the enclosure folds and thickens to contain a large digital media screen, a small cafe, and public restrooms. the corrugated metal skin both obscures and reveals the infrastructure contained within, creating a subtly dynamic veil that changes expression throughout the day.

images by lorenzo zandri | @lorenzozandri (unless otherwise stated)

neiheiser argyros designs its north greenwich screen in conversation with its ‘tide’ elevated linear park, which opened last summer and was designed in collaboration with diller scofidio + renfro. almost dancing and never touching, the two works of architecture geometrically twist past one another and are expressed with intentionally contrasting visual languages. while the ‘tide’ is curving and solid, the screen enclosure is angular and translucent. in this way the two designs are opposites in dialogue.

with its north greenwich screen, neiheiser argyros curates a volume that is both present and absent. with its location beside the O2 arena and the north greenwich tube station, it will be seen by thousands of visitors daily, demanding a strong visual identity. on the other hand the geometry fades into its context, as a moment of visual quiet compared to the eclectic geometries and patterns that surround it. the perforated metal will sometimes catch the light and snap into crisp view. at other times the figure will blur slightly, refracting and distorting the light that passes through, hovering just out of visual comprehension.

 
image by neiheiser argyros

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project info:

project title: north greenwich screen

architecture: neiheiser argyros

location: greenwich peninsula, london, UK

design team: ryan neiheiser, xristina argyros, eleni vagianou, nikolas von schwabe, danae haratsis, giorgio piscitelli, chris yuan, kevin larson

structural engineering: AKT II

MEP, lighting: AECOM

landscape design: gross. max

steel fabricator: cimolai

contractor: mace

completion: 2020

photography: neiheiser argyros, lorenzo zandri | @lorenzozandri