MOCO Museum, London

The Modern Contemporary Museum’s (MOCO) vision for their new museum in the west end of London’s Oxford Street is to represent the voice of the street and trust in art as a powerful means to achieve this goal.

The 3 storey, 2,200 ft² fitout project focused on the interconnected lower ground, ground and first floor retail converted to museum area within 1-4 Marble Arch.

NDY delivered the base build design for the existing building, enabling a deep understanding of the space. When designing services for the MOCO fitout, emphasis was placed on maintenance and conservation of the diverse artworks and installations housed by the museum.

A key project challenge was designing a ventilation system that met strict temperature and humidity control requirements. Our public health solutions feature a demineralised water supply to humidification plant to help facilitate humidity control, while our mechanical design successfully integrates ductwork into the existing structure to ensure optimal conditions for artwork conservation.

Our team conducted extensive coordination and workshops with the architect and audio visual consultant to keep electrical systems hidden, maintaining a clean and aesthetically pleasing finish. For example, at low level the electrical distribution system is placed within floor trunking while high level cableways are hidden in ceilings. These efforts ensure that digital artwork, audio visual equipment and high-tech security elements are flexible and future-ready, ultimately benefiting MOCO’s evolving needs.

We designed a custom Casambi lighting and control solution that uses track lighting with spots and floodlights. This setup effectively illuminates art pieces, sculptures and the new MOCO Museum Store, enhancing the visual experience for visitors.

To align with their powerful ‘voice of the street’ vision, the design reflects modern sensibilities. The sustainability agenda included performance targets to maximise energy efficiency and reduce operational carbon footprint and utility costs. An EPC A was achieved in line with our client’s requirements, via initiatives that include:

• Heat recovery on air handling units and all-electric heating and hot water.
• The market-leading EPC A rating was achieved, for building energy efficiency, via initiatives including:
  • Highly efficient all-electric VRF units, providing heating & cooling throughout
  • Heat recovery on air-handling units throughout
  • All-electric point-of-use hot water.

Representing MOCO’s expansion into the UK market, the space was designed with meticulous attention to detail to provoke thought and inspire discussion. It meets MOCO’s goal of encouraging critical thinking, challenging the norm and inspiring change, making it a dynamic and engaging environment for the people using it.