Rooflines Help Design Firms Stand Out

Both designs are totally impractical from a health and safety point of view.

The Norwegian design would legally require edge barriers to protect experienced roof workers during construction, which would then be removed to allow the general public to plunge to their death from the top and edges or roll all the way down steps with no fall arrest barriers.

The Japanese design has a series of roofs, some inaccessible that will be difficult to maintain and others with unprotected edges designed for people to fall off. The design incorporates very large roof areas that make it expensive to build and subject to excessive heat loss and wind damage.

The panel of 11 people that shortlisted both designs are either not assessing the correct criteria or are incompetent. Neither design as shown will reflect what is actually delivered, what can actually be delivered to make it a workable building. A museum is about gallery space to display artifacts, not about the exterior shape of the building. How many museum curators, structural engineers, construction experts. cost accountants and health and safety professionals were on the panel? Too many overpriced, badly designed buildings are selected by poorly qualified judges because "architecturally spectacular" takes priority over "practical" and "cost effective".