The Zaha Hadid Foundation will reopen the architect’s former London headquarters as a public arts space, with press and private viewings on October 29 and a public opening on November 3. The Grade II-listed former schoolhouse at 10 Bowling Green Lane in Clerkenwell will host activity focused on architecture, design and related arts. Its opening coincides with the 10-year anniversary of Hadid’s death.
A former schoolhouse becomes a cultural venue
The Victorian building will be adapted for public use while retaining some of its original features. The refurbishment was led by Katherine Nolan and Alex Butterworth of London-based Studio KA, who also introduced new flooring and drew on Hadid’s paintings for the interior’s finishing details.
Small design choices connect the building to Hadid’s work: the renovation includes Z-shaped door pulls and shard-like flooring insets. These details bring her visual language into the former headquarters without making the new venue simply a display of architecture; the programme is also intended to support exhibitions, talks, workshops and creative residencies.
Rooms for exhibitions and learning
The reopened site will include galleries, a learning space, a lecture hall and a display of the foundation’s collection. Together, these facilities make room for different kinds of engagement, from viewing archival material to attending public talks and taking part in workshops.
The foundation describes the building’s purpose as extending beyond preservation. Its programme is intended to put Hadid’s legacy in conversation with architecture and cultural practice today, while creating opportunities for education and creative work. The mix of collection display and public events gives the archive a central role in the venue’s activities.
Archive at the centre of the mission
Rana Hadid, chair of the trustees of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, said the foundation was established to preserve Zaha Hadid’s legacy while advancing education, supporting future generations and contributing to architecture. She identified the archive as a record of the architect’s work, imagination and intellectual life.
Opening the archive to broader audiences is a key part of the new phase, alongside learning, scholarship and creative discovery. The foundation’s plans therefore link the physical refurbishment at 10 Bowling Green Lane with a wider effort to make Hadid’s ideas accessible through research and public programming.
Opening exhibition looks to performance
The venue will launch with Zaha Hadid: Architecture of Performance, an exhibition about stage and set designs Hadid conceived for contemporary dance, classical opera and pop music. Catherine Howe and Libby Sellers are curating the show, which connects the architect’s practice to performance as well as buildings and design.
The exhibition gives the opening programme a specific focus: Hadid’s work across performance settings. Alongside future exhibitions and events drawn from the archive, it signals how the foundation intends to present her work through varied forms of cultural activity rather than through a single retrospective display.
A new phase for the foundation
Aric Chen, director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, described the reopening as a next evolution for the site. He said the architect’s legacy would continue through programmes and exhibitions drawn from her archive, as well as through engagement with architectural culture in the present.
The timeline distinguishes the first access from the public launch: press and private viewings begin October 29, while visitors are due to enter from November 3. For the foundation, reopening the former headquarters turns a place associated with Hadid into a public venue for preserving, studying and discussing her work.
Takeaway: The foundation’s Clerkenwell headquarters will become a public arts venue, opening with an exhibition on Hadid’s designs for performance.
What this piece draws on
- usaartnews.com — “Zaha Hadid Foundation Reopens HQ as Public Arts Space”
- artnews.com — “Zaha Hadid Foundation Reopening Former Headquarters”
- e-architect.com — “Zaha Hadid Foundation, London, England – e-architect”
- Wallpaper* — “Step inside the Zaha Hadid Foundation and its archive”
- domusweb.it — “Zaha Hadid Architects may no longer be called Zaha Hadid – Domus”
