The building's success derives from its precise conceptual response to the difficult brief, which called for three flexible rectangular galleries 90m by 15m. They are are expressed as exuded tubes, stacked above each other and pointing in different directions, with solid side walls and glazed end walls giving panoramic views to the outside. A vast naturally-ventilated and unheated public space, enclosed by polycarbonate walls, for events and displays, is oversailed by a great woven timber roof canopy, like a Chinese hat. It is a building like no other.