The Design Museum's new home inside the former Commonwealth Institute in London is an oak-heavy, hotel-like interior that is impressive, but could have been so much more exhilarating, according to critics.
London's relocated Design Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time yesterday, although the press were invited in for a tour earlier this month.
Observer critic Rowan Moore said it was "an exceptional achievement" that an attraction that first opened in the basement of the V&A now has its own £83 million premises.
But he suggested that the project might have been much more impressive if John Pawson, who designed the interiors, and OMA, which masterplanned the site and designed the neighbouring apartments that funded the project, had switched roles. Photograph by Gareth Gardner
"This achievement would have been greater if OMA had designed the museum and Pawson had designed the luxury apartments," he said. "For both seem to be playing out of position, trying to work with situations with which they don't feel entirely comfortable."
Moore claimed the site "could have been a truly exhilarating place if it showed more interest in its content and surroundings", but that instead the converted 1960s building is "a clumsy dance partner for the OMA blocks".
Guardian critic Oliver Wainwright said the space felt more like a luxury shop or hotel than a major museum.
"The aerial drama feels a bit suff...