Morris+Company

The Story of 15 Norton Folgate

20 March – 30 June

Free Exhibition + Events
at Morris+Company

How do we honour the past, while shaping the future?

15 Norton Folgate is a decade-long tale of transformation that began with a simple, but radical, question:

“What can we keep?”

Architects rarely begin with a blank canvas. We build on what exists. But to elevate architecture beyond the fundamental, we must revel in the details, understand the environmental, social, and cultural value embedded in the existing – and then breathe new life into it.

This exhibition tells the stories behind the final form - from city to detail, chapter by chapter, brick by brick.

'From The Quarter To The Mortar' takes us on a journey through some of the most pivotal and poignant chapters of the transformation, charting the smallest movements, the intricate craft, and technical feats - to reveal the complexity of retention.

Featuring hand drawn sketches, technical drawings, digital collages, handmade models, site photos and film, we invite you to explore the artisan craft of the late 18th century, the faithful brick by brick rebuilding of a historic facade, and the intricate patchworks of repairs – to the cutting-edge construction, and majestic technical feats we are capable of today.

Discover the hidden decisions, along with the battles and compromises involved in developing a design to align the interests of multiple stakeholders. This exhibition forms a melting pot of serendipitous discoveries, moments of reversal and discarded iterations.

It is a record of the craft of caring, and a philosophy of keeping.

The exhibition runs from 20 March until 30 June, and will be open to the public every Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm (except bank holidays).

Free entry.

Full programme of supporting events announced soon.

Related work

15 Norton Folgate

Window Surround The corner building is a combination of hand laid and precast elements. This film shows a prefabricated window surround being hoisted by a crane to the 4th floor for insertion into the building fabric, the deep red hue blending with the red brick of the new building.

Construction Timelapse A continuous record of the process of constructing a major piece of city captured in time-lapse over a 5 year period between 2018 and 2023. Evident in this film is the complex range of construction types employed, from in situ, to precast, to retention and renovation.

Site Model This 1:50 scale model locates our plot in the immediate context of the masterplan, with coloured elements representing the buildings that now form 15 Norton Folgate. The corner element shown here is the final iteration in a series of explorations also shown in the exhibition.