Difficult Sites: Architecture Against the Odds

Architects often produce their finest work when confronted with the challenge of designing for a difficult site.

Our latest free exhibition explores remarkable feats of architectural achievement in the face of tricky terrain, awkward urban plots, challenging remodels, and more.

From the 1900s to today, it delves into over twenty complex, unusual, and dynamic builds across the UK.

Including work from history’s most renowned architects Neave Brown, Grimshaw Architects, and Lord Norman Foster as well as contemporary practices of Tonkin Liu, KnoxBhavan, and Carmody Groarke the exhibition highlights the pioneering spirit at the heart of great architecture.

Through original drawings, photography, models, and plans it offers an eye-opening look at how resilient and creative practitioners are in realising the inconceivable against the odds.
 

Alexandra Road Estate, Camden, London, seen from the railway line © Martin Charles, RIBA Collections