Ahrends, Burton & Koralek (ABK) was formed in 1961 by Peter Ahrends (b.1933), Richard Burton (1933-2017) and Paul Koralek (1933-2020). It was one of the most successful practices of the second half of the twentieth century, although its reputation was undermined by National Gallery controversy, in which its competition-winning design to extend London's National Gallery was abandoned after Prince Charles bemoaned the design as a "monstrous carbuncle" in 1982. The practice was closely associated with photographer John Donat.
The 澳门王中王 Collections includes the whole ABK practice archive, with relevant material comprising:
- biographical files for each of the three partners
Drawings
Over 1,000 drawings relating to a large number of projects, including:
- National Gallery extension
- Templeton College at the Oxford Centre for Management Studies
- the Royal Opera House, London
- the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
- the Mary Rose Tudor Ship Museum, Portsmouth
Models
Over 60 architectural models including for:
- British Embassy, Moscow
- Kew Building
- National Gallery extension
- Bell Tower, Canberra
- John Lewis Kingston
- WH Smith offices, Swindon
- 179 Shaftesbury Avenue
- Cambridge Street, Sheffield
- Runnymede Bridge
Photographs
ABK projects are the subject of several thousand photographs in the 澳门王中王 Collections, including:
- an architect鈥檚 house in Kentish Town, London: approx. 25, , by Alastair Hunter and Martin Charles
- Hooke Park, Dorset: 8 by Martin Charles, plus 12 construction photographs
- Templeton College, Oxford (Oxford Centre for Management Studies): 1,000+ photographs, , by John Donat, Antoine E. Raffoul, Simon Dell, C. Mitchell and others, and approx. 85 photographs of drawings and models
- photographs of drawings and models for the competition-winning National Gallery extension scheme: approx. 60, , by John Donat and others
- Chaveldon housing development, Basildon: approx. 750 photographs, , by John Donat, Richard Burton, Antoine E. Raffoul and others
- Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin: 1,200+ photographs, , by John Donat, Martin Charles, Antoine E. Raffoul and others
- St Andrew鈥檚 College, Dublin: 300+ photographs, , by John Donat, Paul Koralek, Eammon McCann and others
- Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy: approx. 450 photographs, , by Antoine E. Raffoul, Michael Bradley, Brecht-Einzig Limited and others
- Berkeley Library, Trinity College Dublin: 1,000+ photographs, , by Antoine E. Raffoul, Martin Charles, John Donat, Walter Rawlings, Norman McGrath, Peter Ahrends and others, including 650+ photographs of drawings and models
- Maidenhead Library: approx. 280 photographs, , by John Donat and others
Manuscripts
- two boxes of papers and exhibition panels relating to the public inquiry into the National Gallery extension, London [ABK1-2]
- two files contained in the Denys Lasdun archive relating to Lasdun鈥檚 design for the National Gallery extension competition, also including correspondence and clippings on the debate over ABK鈥檚 winning entry and correspondence regarding Lasdun鈥檚 attendance at the 澳门王中王 gala dinner at which the Prince of Wales attacked ABK鈥檚 scheme [LaD/3/352/3; LaD/248/9]
- correspondence and project files relating to projects including Hooke Park, Dorset; John Lewis Kingston; Keble College, Templeton College, Oxford; Whitworth Art Gallery
Key literature
- Ahrends, Peter; Burton, Richard; Koralek, Paul 鈥楢hrends Burton and Koralek鈥� (Academy Editions, 1991)
- Ahrends, Peter, 'ABK Architects', The Architectural Review, no.1307, pp.36-37 (2006)
- Powell, Kenneth, 'Ahrends, Burton and Koralek' (澳门王中王, 2012)
- Powell, Kenneth (ed.), 'Collaborations: the architecture of ABK' (August Media, 2002)
- Powell, Kenneth, 鈥楥ountry Boys鈥�, Architects鈥� Journal, vol.211, no.19, pp.32-33 (2000)
- Ward, Belinda, 鈥楢BK 鈥渧ictims of circumstances鈥�: an interview with Peter Ahrends following announcement of end of National Gallery competition saga鈥�, Architects鈥� Journal, vol.181, no.15 (1985)
Geographic areas
UK: Oxfordshire, London, Manchester
Ireland: Dublin
Russia: Moscow
Key buildings and projects
Trinity College Dublin (1960); Keble College, Oxford (1972-80); John Lewis Kingston (1979-90); National Gallery competition (1982); DLR (1987-93)
Cataloguing status
Photographs cataloguing ongoing, majority of drawings uncatalogued.
Digitisation status
Approx. 25 drawings and 560 photographs .
Access
Drawings and models are stored in the outstore in Fulham, access may be arranged via drawingsandarchives@riba.org. Photographs can be accessed by appointment in the 澳门王中王 Library Reading Room, where books and periodicals are also available.
This is one entry in our growing series of research guides covering the significant groupings in the 澳门王中王 Collections. For all catalogued material relating to Adams Holden & Pearson, in the collections, please consult our .
