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Astley Castle, Witherford Watson Mann, interior © Helene Binet
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RIBA exhibition, Difficult Sites: Architecture Against the Odds

11 October 2024 – 29 March 2025 | RIBA, LONDON

RIBA’s new exhibition explores over 20 ambitious projects that overcame extreme site challenges across Britain. Featuring work by architects like Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Neave Brown, and Lord Norman Foster, alongside contemporary firms such as Caruso St John, Tonkin Liu and Carmody Groarke, it highlights innovation in design, materials, and engineering.

Divided into three themes, Difficult Landscapes, Difficult Urban Spaces, and Difficult Reworkings, the exhibition showcases projects like Creek Vean House, The Eden Project, Alexandra Road Estate, and The British Library. Through models, drawings, and photography, visitors can see how architects turned difficult sites into groundbreaking designs. Image of the interior of Astley Castle, an example of ‘Difficult Reworkings’ in the RIBA exhibition. Architects Witherford Watson Mann. © Helene Binet. RIBA

Difficult Urban Spaces

Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London 1 © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. Designed by Venturi Scott Brown. © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
New headquarters of the London Electric Railway Company (later London Underground), 55 Broadway, Westminster, London, model © RIBA Collections
New headquarters of the London Electric Railway Company (later London Underground), 55 Broadway, Westminster, London, model. Designed by Charles Holden. © RIBA Collections
British Library, 96 Euston Road, St Pancras, London, the bicycle park © John Donat, RIBA Collections
The bicycle part at the British Library, 96 Euston Road, St Pancras, London. Architects Colin St John Wilson & Partners. © John Donat, RIBA Collections
British Library, 96 Euston Road, St Pancras, London, section model © RIBA Collections
Section model of the British Library, 96 Euston Road, St Pancras, London. © RIBA Collections
Brick House, Caruso St. John, interior © Helene Binet
Brick House interior. Designed by Caruso St. John Architects. © Helene Binet
Brick House, Caruso St. John, exterior © Ioana Marinescu
Brick House exterior. Designed by Caruso St. John Architects. © Ioana Marinescu
Archway Studios © Undercurrent Architects
Archway Studios © Undercurrent Architects
Archway Studios © Undercurrent Architects 1
Archway Studios © Undercurrent Architects
Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London, seen from the railway line © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London, seen from the railway line. Designed by Neave Brown. © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London, looking north-east along the pedestrian street between blocks A and B © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London, looking north-east along the pedestrian street between blocks A and B. © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections
Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London © Eric Firley, RIBA Collections
Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London. © Eric Firley, RIBA Collections

Difficult Landscapes

Windermere Jetty Museum, Carmody Groarke ©Jim Stephenson
Windermere Jetty Museum. Architects Carmody Groarke. © Jim Stephenson
Nedd by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects 1 © David Barbour Photography
Nedd by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects. © David Barbour Photography
Nedd by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects © David Barbour Photography
Nedd by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects. © David Barbour Photography
March House on the Thames at Marlow © Edmund Sumner
March House on the Thames at Marlow designed by KnoxBhavan Architects. © Edmund Sumner
March House © Edmund Sumner
March House by KnoxBhavan Architects. © Edmund Sumner
Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall © Jonathan Makepeace, RIBA Collections
Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall designed by Grimshaw Architects. © Jonathan Makepeace, RIBA Collections
Design for the Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, section through the Biomes © RIBA Collections
Design for the Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, section through the Biomes. Grimshaw Architects. © RIBA Collections

Difficult Reworkings

Water Tower, Tonkin Liu, External © Dennis Pedersen
Water Tower by Architect Tonkin Liu. © Dennis Pedersen
Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham, United Kingdom, Wilkinson Eyre © Edmund Sumner, Alamy
Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham, United Kingdom. Wilkinson Eyre Architects. © Edmund Sumner, Alamy
Magna Science Adventure Centre (2001). Rotherham, UK. Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Magna Science Adventure Centre (2001). Rotherham, UK. Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry, the new cathedral rising above the ruins of the medieval cathedral © Henk Snoek, RIBA Collections
Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry, the new cathedral rising above the ruins of the medieval cathedral. Designed by Sir Basil Spence. © Henk Snoek, RIBA Collections
Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry, the Baptistery with stained glass windows by John Piper © Architectural Press Archive, RIBA Collections
Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry, the Baptistery with stained glass windows by John Piper. © Architectural Press Archive, RIBA Collections
Astley Castle, Witherford Watson Mann, exterior © Helene Binet
Exterior of Astley Castle. Architects Witherford Watson Mann. © Helene Binet