Rocca London Gallery
Zaha Hadid Architects

Photo courtesy of Rocca

The design of the Rocca London Gallery brings about a connective language between the architecture and the bathroom products, with the movement of water "carving out" the interior and moving through the Gallery as individual drops.

The design theme of water movement extends to the dynamic facade of the gallery, which appears initially to the visitor approaching the architecture like a set of ripples in movement across the exterior of the ground level space. The grey facade has large apertures for the main entrance and windows and an appearance of tactility, creating a sense of intrigue on the street as the visitor approaches.


Photo courtesy of Rocca
Water defines the landscape of the interior space, creating a sense of mobile liquidity reinforced by a series of elongated, illuminated water drops. These cascade around the ceiling as a set of lighting fixtures, down the walls as shelves for books, media and small products, and onto the floor as tables and seating. Their fluid lines of convergence both lend each area of the space an individual identity and connect them by the way they define a feeling of movement.

A flowing, all-white space made of faceted GRG (gypsum) panels serves as a central axis of the Gallery. Around this a number of smaller connected semi-enclosed spaces can be viewed through openings in walls. As a result, the visitor never feels enclosed in one space, but can always see beyond it into the space through overlapping and cutaway forms that enable a pleasing permeability to the Gallery.


Photo courtesy of Rocca

Photo courtesy of Rocca

Photo courtesy of Rocca
All the panels, which are made of GRC or fiber reinforced concrete, have been pre-fabricated in moulds and constructed on-site. The panels creating the interior walls are made of two waffled concrete layers sandwiching a honeycomb mesh that can stress in different directions and is very robust as a composite material. The furniture is made from GRP, or reinforced plastic, including the cove-shaped reception desk.


Photo courtesy of Rocca
A special feature of the Gallery is the floor of the product exhibition areas, which has a mosaic of porcelain tiles designed exclusively for the space by Zaha Hadid Architects. With each one cut and laid individually, the design creates an optical effect inspired by a water current. The lighting scheme created by Isometrix is also innovative in a complementary way, with special features including washing the walls in light and a mix of direct and dispersed mood lights.


Photo courtesy of Rocca

Our work imbues architecture with the intricacy and beauty of natural forms. Using a formal language derived from the movement of water, the Roca London Gallery has been eroded and polished by fluidity; generating a sequence of dynamic spaces carved from this fascinating interplay between architecture and nature.

/Zaha Hadid

Drawing courtesy Zaha Hadid ArchitectsPlan

Drawing courtesy Zaha Hadid ArchitectsEast Elevation. Main Entrance

Drawing courtesy Zaha Hadid ArchitectsSouth East Elevation