Herzog & de Meuron’s transformation of London’s Bankside Power Station into Tate Modern redefines museum architecture, blending industrial history with a bold new vision for the 21st century.
When Herzog & de Meuron first approached the conversion of London’s Bankside Power Station into what would become Tate Modern, their intervention was remarkable for its subtlety. Rather than obscuring the station’s industrial character, the Swiss architects leaned into it, preserving Giles Gilbert Scott’s austere vision while preparing the structure for a new public life. Their minimal exterior interventions, marked by gestures like the elegant light beam atop the roof, respected the power station’s imposing form. The transformation not only created a world-class museum of modern and contemporary art but also catalyzed the urban regeneration of London’s South Bank.
The subsequent expansion of Tate Modern, known as the Switch House and completed in 2016, deepened this dialogue between old and new. Herzog & de Meuron responded to the complex site conditions and the need for diverse spatial typologies by designing a pyramidal form that rises organically from the foundations of the original oil tanks. These subterranean volumes, once purely industrial, became the conceptual and physical heart of the new structure. The architects expanded the program beyond exhibition galleries, carving out spaces for learning, social engagement, and contemplation, effectively reimagining what a 21st-century museum could be.
A bold yet sensitive presence, the Switch House is clad in a radical reinterpretation of traditional brickwork. A perforated brick veil wraps the building, allowing it to glow softly at night and shifting in texture and transparency depending on one’s viewpoint. This skin transforms a material often associated with solidity into something almost diaphanous, giving the building an unexpected lightness. The façade’s deliberate cuts and stepped planes reflect the internal programming, creating an intricate conversation between inside and out, between the public and the intimate.
Throughout both the initial conversion and the later expansion, Herzog & de Meuron displayed a profound understanding of Tate Modern’s urban and cultural context. They resisted the temptation of iconic spectacle in favor of an architecture rooted in experience, atmosphere, and material resonance.
