Wales Millennium Centre - Porphyry Cubes
Posted by Roger Murphy on Mon, Oct 10, 2011 @ 09:19 AM
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
This world famous building has award winning porphyry cubes framing the pathways leading to it. The plaza of the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) is a winner of the Interpave Award. The exterior approaches to the WMC were designed by Tira Landscape Architects where some 2,000 sq. meters, of hard landscaped pedestrian areas were designed to reflect the building's rich use of materials and link it to the wider Cardiff Bay area. A special precast concrete flag - developed for the City of Cardiff and incorporating granite aggregate with mica particles for a glinting appearance - was used in conjunction with porphyry stone setts to form a checkerboard design.
The WMC is the first national cultural institution built in Wales for over 50 years and is home to seven of Wales' leading arts and cultural organizations creating a remarkable self-contained artistic community. At the heart of the building is an auditorium for an audience of up to 1,850, designed to set new standards for high performance in natural acoustics (for opera and ballet) and amplified sound (for touring musicals and contemporary dance). Designed by the firm Percy Thomas, the architecture of the building, its forms and the materials selected are inspired by elements of the Welsh Landscape and by the nation's social and cultural traditions.
The Architect
Jonathan Adams of Percy Thomas Architects explains the thinking behind the design of Cardiff's landmark: “I believe that architecture can stand alongside the highest of the arts, provided it does what art is meant to do: to communicate, to connect with the imagination, to civilize. To do this a building like the Millennium Centre, the first national cultural institution to be built here for over a half century, must say something to the public about the state of our nation now and about our hopes for the future.
We in Wales do not have a contemporary architectural idiom from which to draw. So, if it is done with honesty, the architecture will inevitably be unlike any that has gone before.”
Wales Millennium Centre plaque photo by David Luther Thomas
Porphyry's composition determines its high compression strength, resistance to stains, slip resistance, and high freeze/thaw ratings. The stone is the most popular paver in Europe, and is favored for its flexibility in design, beauty, durability and low maintenance requirements. ADA Compliant Porphyry pavers are also adaptable to a permeable paving set. The stone is by far one of the most durable pavers in the world. These materials are available from Milestone Imports. - www.milestoneimports.com
