Something's Stirring In The crypt

摘要

Edwin Lutyens' crypt at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral should make a splendid venue for the RIBA Trust's Corbusier exhibition, which opens next month. The only built part of Lutyens' spectacular 1930s Romanesque scheme for the Roman Catholic cathedral, it is of suitable stature for such a show and a draw in its own right. But when the trust was considering venues back in 2005, there was a significant problem with this one: how could the grade II listed crypt, with its vintage underfloor heating and leaky windows, meet the standards expected by exhibition creator Vitra Design Museum? The RIBA asked Buro Happold to work out a way of achieving these standards without compromising the structure. 'It's an absolutely awesome venue. You can't imagine that such a thing is hidden away,' says Buro Happold associate director David Beck.