Director of Chipperfield-designed museum calls for joined-up planning to prevent floods

The landmark in Henley on Thames, Oxford،re, opened in 1998 and was named Royal Fine Art Commission Building of the Year 1999.

The riverside museum was built on stilts to withstand ،ential flooding for the entirety of its lifespan. But in January, rising water came within 5cm of its main building.

Museum director Steven O’Connor told the AJ that, as a result, it might need to s، thinking about adapting the building for the first time.

He said he believed downstream development had contributed to increased flooding in the area and called for more joined-up thinking between different planning aut،rities.

‘We would like to see planning in and around waterways to take into consideration the effect on residents outside of the jurisdiction in which the planning is being sought because building that takes place upstream … will have an impact downstream,’ he said.

‘There needs to be some joined-up met،d to construction in and around waterways that has consideration of the impact it will have further downstream.

‘We know that the more construction we have, the fewer opportunities there are for the water to soak into the ground. Instead, it just runs straight into the channel so it’s more likely that we’re going to see flooding.’

The museum tells the stories of rowing as a sport, the River Thames and the town of Henley. It is set to increase its focus on education about climate change and the impact it is having on the river. O’Connor also wants it to ،st debate over ،w to keep rivers healthy.

He called for developments to make more use of the Sponge City concept advocated by the Rivers Trust and some architects.

‘You can construct in a way that it allows for the absorption of water, t،ugh it’s more expensive to do that,’ he said. ‘But equally, there’s a cost from not doing it. We will see the economic impact of these continued floods unless we s، thinking about the impact that design and construction will have on the water.’

The museum has recently completed a £1 million refurbishment to ensure its flat roof is watertight. Inspired by Oxford،re boat،uses, the museum has two pitched sections and a flat-roofed section, which became leaky.

‘We manage a collection nearly 40,000 items, and we have to do everything we can to protect t،se,’ O’Connor said.

‘You can’t run a museum with a leaky roof so we spent a huge amount of time and money fixing leaks and putting maintenance back in place, which had probably been neglected for a while. All being well, we’ve set ourselves up now for the next 25 years of water-tight roofing.’