The Serpentine Sackler Gallery, a £14.5m arts and gallery space designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, has opened in London.

The Sackler is Hadid’s first permanent structure to be created in central London and features 900 metres of exhibition space, a restaurant and room for socialising. The building is seven minutes’ walk from the main Serpentine Gallery.

Located in Kensington Gardens – in an 1805 gunpowder store formerly known as The Magazine – the gallery honours Dr Mortimer and Dame Theresa Sackler, whose foundation made the project possible through the largest single gift received by the Serpentine in its 43 years of existence.

The project has been ongoing since 2010, when the Serpentine won the tender from The Royal Parks to bring the Grade II listed building into public use for the first time in its history.

The building combines neo-classical architecture with a transparent modern extension, which sees a continuation in the partnership between the Serpentine and Hadid. Both worked together on the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Commission in 2000.

Hadid has been responsible for putting forward some of the most progressive architectural designs of recent times. Hadid's New National Stadium of Japan will be the centrepiece of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Led by Iraqi-British architect Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, DBE, the Pritzker Prize-winning firm is also responsible for a number of other leading international projects including the MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome, Italy, the Contemporary Arts Centre in Cincinnati, US and the ongoing creation of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park in Seoul, South Korea.

Hadid has also completed a number of projects in the UK, which include the creation of the Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, London, the Roca London Gallery in Chelsea Harbour, London and the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games.

It is also thought Hadid will be behind the creation of Iraq's new national museum to be based in the war-torn city of Baghdad, as previously reported by Attractions Management.

More information on Hadid’s work is available here: http://lei.sr?a=W0L0Y