Portfolios Archive | RFK Architects

25th February 2019

Alan Farlie

Winnie the Pooh at the V+A

Alan Farlie

Prior to co-founding RFK Architects ltd, Alan worked at award-winning practice Stanton Williams for 13 years and during that time he had a leading role in many of the practice’s major exhibition, museum and gallery commissions, including Whitby Abbey Visitors Centre, Ashmolean Museum, Birmingham Gas Hall Gallery and The Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Since setting up RFK Architects with Debby Kuypers, Alan has developed two main areas of work. Exhibition and Museum projects for leading institutions include the redisplay of the Japanese Galleries at the British Museum, Anglo-Saxons and Magna Carta at the British Library, Vikings and Shakespeare at the British Museum and Curtain Up and Winnie-the-Pooh at the V&A. Parallel with the exhibition work, Alan worked on high-quality commercial offices for developers like Great Portland Estates who appreciate the importance of good design and the use of high quality materials. All projects receive the same level of consideration and creativity regardless of scale and subject.

Whitby Abbey Visitors Centre

Birmingham Gas Hall Gallery

Issey Myake London

19th February 2019

Debby Kuypers

Royal Academy Shop

Debby Kuypers MA Dip Arch RIBA FRSA

I’m a registered Architect with 25 years experience.

Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands , I moved to the UK in 1988 and attended the School of Architecture at Edinburgh University.

After graduating with distinction, I pursued my architectural career in London, working with internationally acclaimed practices Skidmore Owings and Merrill Inc., Benson + Forsyth and Stanton Williams.

During my 7 years at Benson + Forsyth, I played a key role in the Museum of Scotland and National Gallery of Ireland. Both projects were short-listed for the Stirling Prize.

For the Museum of Scotland I was the senior project architect for the fit out and integrated Exhibition Design.

During my time at Stanton Williams, I was the project architect for Selfridges Manchester Exchange Square and Selfridges Birmingham Menswear and Beauty.

Whilst at Stanton Williams I worked closely with Alan Farlie and in 2003, Alan and I founded RFK Architects Ltd.

Our mutual experience in both museum and retail design is evident in all our projects.

Over the years I’ve built a strong portfolio of retail projects, from luxury to high street, department stores to independent concept stores, in the UK as well as the Netherlands, Spain and United States.

Our clients include (amongst others) Selfridges, de Bijenkorf, Harrods, Fenwick, John Lewis and Boots. I’ve also led museum enterprise projects (shops) for the V+A, the Royal Academy, the British Museum and Kings College Cambridge.

As well as the obvious creative and technical abilities required to be an architect, I have also developed the necessary skills to be as company director, practice leader and employer.

I’m organised, a good communicator and financially astute.

In 2014 I made the UK’s Power Part Time Top 50 list - when my daughter was a year old. I’ve now returned to working full time, but actively encourage flexible working within our practice.

In addition to my work at RFK Architects, I’ve been a Visiting Lecturer at Westminster University since 2005, where I tutor the MA Interiors - Retail Design Module.

I’m also Vice - Chair of Governors at Coleridge Primary School.

Museum of Scotland

National Gallery of Ireland

Selfridges Birmingham and Manchester

19th February 2019

About us

About

RFK Architects Ltd was founded by Alan Farlie and Debby Kuypers in 2003.

We are a design led architecture and design practice. We are part of the creative community in the Arts Building at Finsbury Park, London N4.

At RFK the principle sectors we work in are retail and hospitality, museums and galleries, offices and workspace.

The practice has delivered projects of the highest design quality. We develop solutions that are formally, functionally and technically innovative, but always within cost and programme.

We undertake projects of varying sizes, from one off display cases and furniture, to buildings and fit outs up to £50million construction cost.

We are a close knit team with low staff turn over. This makes us efficient and allows each member to take on challenges and responsibilities to ensure they continue to grow.

Alan Farlie

Debby Kuypers

House by John Lewis

Retail

After 20 years experience in retail design and brand liaison, we go beyond providing architectural design proposals in response to a defined brief.

We work closely with our clients to develop the overall retail proposition. The customer experience is always our primary consideration.

Projects often start with an analysis of an overall masterplan, ensuring primary walkways, plot sizes and product displays are in the correct location.

A strong customer focussed masterplan with clear vistas and circulation, will help customer orientation, encourages browsing, increases dwell time and enhances the overall retail experience. This in turn increases spend and results in repeat visits.

We consider department/ category layouts and adjacencies, the product mix and locations as well as brand mix, offer, size and groupings.

We understand the challenges of the current retail landscape. We therefore actively work with our clients to find solutions that are robust and innovative and are ahead of the changing customer engagement.

We work in a variety of different ways, spanning across base-built, ‘grey-box’, ‘white-box’, full fit-out, product density analysis and display, fixture and furniture design, as well as brand design management and guidelines. We are not precious and happy to work along side other architects and designers in a truly collaborative way.

Our clients include Selfridges, de Bijenkorf, Harrods, Fenwick, John Lewis, Boots and Walgreens. All of which we’ve worked with for many years, on different projects, repeat commissions and retainers.

We are design professionals so ‘excellent’ design should be a given. The bullet points below summarise the unique services that ensure RFK delivers successful projects.

RFK are passionate about design, but also commercially astute in our understanding of retail and our approach to your budgets.
Debby Kuypers, director will be directly involved in all stages of a project.
We are lean and efficient, keeping our overheads low so that our fees can be focused on quality and service.
Customer experience is at the heart of everything, and product is king.
We are experienced in the analysis, development and delivery of complex masterplan projects in trading stores.
We have experience in all product types and categories from superbrand to high street.
Our white box design will focus on elements with the most impact and therefore the best return for your investment.
Our fixture design will include merchandise analysis and operational reviews.
We are strategic and practical and used to finding the most efficient temporary, enabling or consequential solutions.
We are architects and interior designers, that can take on all stages of a project from concept through to delivery.
Our scope of services include planning, building control as well as structural and services coordination.
We have extensive experience in brand design liaison and have built relationships with most brand in-house design teams.

British Museum

Exhibitions

Drawing on more than 40 years of joint experience as architects and designers, the RFK are leaders in exhibition, museum and gallery design. Our client list includes the British Museum, the British Library, V&A, the Royal Collection Trust, the Jewish Museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Wallace Collection, Tate Britain, the National Gallery, The Story Museum and the Royal Academy. Current and recent exhibition projects include the Japanese Galleries at the British Museum, Anglo-Saxons at the British Library, Ribera at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, Richard Wallace 200 at the Wallace Collection, Winnie-the-Pooh at the V&A, Asterix in Britain at the Jewish Museum, Russia and Fenton at the Queens Gallery. Past exhibitions include: Curtain Up at the V&A; Magna Carta 2015 at the British Library, Vikings, Shakespeare: staging the world & Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum, Blood at the Jewish Museum, Buckingham Palace Summer Opening 2018, Goya at the National Gallery, Rodin’s Dancers at the Courtauld Gallery, Turner Whistler Monet, Van Dyck and Holbein at Tate Britain.

Alan worked at award-winning practice Stanton Williams for 13 years and during that time he had a leading role in many of the practices major exhibition, museum and gallery commissions, including Whitby Abbey Visitors Centre, Ashmolean Museum, Birmingham Gas Hall Gallery and The Royal Observatory, Greenwich. All projects in Debby worked for 8 years at Benson + Forsyth on the Museum of Scotland (including the Scotland in History exhibition design) and the National Gallery of Ireland Extension; both projects were short listed for the Stirling Prize. One of our trademarks as a practice is how closely we work with the curatorial teams to ensure that the objects always are highlighted as the prime focus of the exhibition. All projects start with a dialogue with the curator or curatorial team to understand the storyline and how the objects relate to the story. By understanding the site, the design brief, the objects and budget we get to the heart of the problem and produce solutions that are sometimes unexpected but always well considered and appropriate to the needs of the museum and the visitor.

Facing the Modern / Goya

Kent House - Great Titchfield Street

Commercial

We have been working with Great Portland Estates for almost ten years and have also worked with Threadneedle Estates, Scottish Widows and Burleigh Estates amongst others. We also have extensive experience in working within a historic context where our aim is to find the most appropriate contemporary solution that respects the historic qualities of the existing building. Recent work includes a new entrance for the Courtauld Gallery and ongoing work for Kings College Chapel in Cambridge.

de Bijenkorf

John Lewis

Shakespeare: Staging the World

M&S Lifestore

Selfridges

Chiswick Studios

Walgreens Boots Alliance

14th February 2019

Walmar house

Commercial Case Study

Walmar House - 296 Regent Street

Client

Great Portland Estates plc 33 Cavendish Square London W1G 0PW www.gpe.co.uk

Photography: Rob Parrish/ Nick Rochowski

Walmar House - 296 Regent Street

Walmar House is located in the heart of Central London and occupies the full city block from Great Castle Street to Margaret Street.

Originally the building was constructed in phases between 1916 and 1922.

RFK proposals unifies the distinct phases of the original building, by demolishing the rear of the site to create a new core, rationalised and unified floor plates as well additional office accommodation.

The final design provides 80 000sqft of contemporary accommodation whilst retaining and restoring the original facade.

The building has been fully let to Compagnie Financiere -Richmont SA, owners of luxury brands such as Cartier, Dunhill, Mont Blanc, Chloe and others.

The project also included the redevelopment of 13/14 Great Castle Street to create 4 new luxury apartments.

At street level 4 new retail units were created now let to Pret-a-Manger, Hotel Chocolat, T2 and North Face.

14th February 2019

Royal Academy of Arts – Gallery Shop

Museum Enterprise Case Study

Royal Academy of Arts - Gallery Shop

Client

Royal Academy of Arts Burlington House Piccadily London W1J 0BD www.royalacademy.org.uk

Photography: Rory Mulvey

Royal Academy of Arts - Gallery Shop

Royal Academy of Arts remodelled and greatly expanded their shopping space as part of its 250th anniversary celebrations. Designed to inhabit spaces XI and X of the magnificent galleries of Burlington House.

Gallery XI, the existing home of the RA shop, offers a diverse range of products, prints, books and gifts inspired by the distinctive personality of the RA. The new environment and product displays are designed to reflect the layout and ambience of an artist studio.

In contrast, Gallery X in the Porter Gallery provides a more formal setting for high-end pieces, including commissions, editions and one-off objects. The design celebrates the traditional gallery environment.

Seating areas encourage customers to rest, read, or meet for one-to-one consultation on Art Sales editions on request.

The two galleries are connected by a spectacular book wall.

RFK has taken a deliberately light-touch approach, restoring the equilibrium and flow of the original galleries and returning the vestibule on the first floor of Burlington House to the display of art, welcome and orientation.

14th February 2019

Japanese Galleries

Gallery Case Study

Japanese Galleries - British Museum

Client

British Museum Great Russell Street Bloomsbury London WC1B 3DG

Photography: British Museum

Japanese Galleries - British Museum

The British Museum has refurbished some of its most popular galleries, The Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries, displaying highlights from the museum’s extensive Japanese collections, one of the most comprehensive outside of Japan.

RFK’s design shows major enhancements to the gallery’s environment, circulation and infrastructure, with improved displays of some 430 artworks and archaeological artefacts dating from ancient prehistory to the present day,

Through the design and display, these objects tell many of the significant stories about Japan’s past and how it has interacted with the wider world encouraging visitors to enjoy a deeper engagement with its present and the future.

Several major new acquisitions are on display in the galleries for the first time. The centrepiece being the newly-acquired Edo period set of Samurai armour.

Another new acquisition greets visitors on their arrival: ‘Time Waterfall’ by Miyajima Tatsuo is a contemporary artwork which consists of randomly generated digital numbers which tumble down and LED panel. This mesmerising work reminds us that life is constantly changing.

The newly refurbished galleries will now allow for a deeper understanding of a fascinating culture and an important country, and ensure the display remains lively and engaging, attracting repeat visits.

13th February 2019

Bracknell

Retail Case Study

Fenwick Bracknell

Client

Fenwick 63 New Bond Street London W1A 3BS www.fenwick.co.uk

Photography: Duncan Smith

Fenwick Bracknell

Bracknell’s location within the Royal Forest is historically significant.

RFK’s facade design creates an 80 000sqft icon building for the Fenwick Department store.

The perforated aluminium cladding panels are designed to provide a dappled natural light to the interior which is reminiscent of sun on the forest bed through the tree canopy above. At night the facade is back lit, the perforations light up like the stars. A slow pulsing movement of the dynamic lighting reflects the movement of the leaves in a gentle wind.

The first floor ‘Bridge’ provides a Fenwick presence along the perpendicular vista . The bridge has an external seating/ dining area for Fenwick’s Fuego restaurant on the second floor. The terrace is protected by a stretched sail to give a holiday ambience but also a clear sign from afar that this is a place to enjoy. A glass express lift takes you from street level straight into the restaurant for out of hours trading.

Internally the store houses Beauty/ Accessories and Menswear on the ground floor. With Mason and Rye cafe on a raised platform overlooking the store, providing direct access to an external terrace on the edge of the development which catches the sun.

First floor houses Womenswear/ Shoes/ Hosiery and Lingerie. The second and top floor has Kids/ Toys/ Bed and Bath and Cookshop leading into the Fuego restaurant.

Centrally there is clerestory lit atrium - the escalators are off set to maintain clear sight lines across the store but also to provide a space for VM and digital screens with artificial plants which reflect the Bracknell forest ferns.

30th November 2017

Walmar House

Great Portland Estates

£12m redevelopment of a Grade II listed building on Regent Street one block north of Oxford Circus - currently on site. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque in quam eros. Donec ac dolor sagittis, luctus quam id, tincidunt augue. Donec commodo nec urna in pretium. Duis in magna sem. Praesent convallis maximus elit, ultricies placerat dui. Sed ipsum risus, viverra id dolor vitae, aliquam ullamcorper purus.