![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_8.jpg)
Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects
Photographer Edmund Sumner has sent us these images of a shimmering steel visitors centre at a Mumbai museum.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_3.jpg)
RMA Architects designed the elliptical building at the entrance to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum), where historical Indian artefacts and artworks are exhibited.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_6.jpg)
Thin steel columns support a curving roof that overhangs the exterior walls of the centre to shelter a surrounding terrace.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_4.jpg)
Existing trees grow through holes in this roof, which also shelters a separate circular baggage kiosk.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_7.jpg)
The remaining portion of the visitors centre contains a 200-seat auditorium, a ticket-office, a shop, a cafe and toilets.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_9.jpg)
Edmund Sumner has photographed a number of buildings in Mumbai - see our earlier stories about a corporate office block beside a slum and a wood-clad temple.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_2.jpg)
The following text is from RMA Architects:
A visitor’s center located at the entrance of the Prince of Wales Museum, a Grade I heritage structure in Mumbai.
The contemporary structure expands upon the footprint of a previously existing multipurpose hall, and is a part of an expansion plan for this prestigious urban landmark.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_1.jpg)
The center fulfills various programmatic functions, ranging from the integration of baggage collection and storage, to ticketing and security, as well as a museum shop, two hundred seat auditorium, and rest rooms.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_10.jpg)
A lightweight, stainless steel clad elliptical roof creates a covered verandah for circulation, integrating disparate visitor programs into a consolidated and modest, yet contemporary form.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_11.gif)
Click above for larger image
Glass and metal surfaces exist as a visual counterpoint to stout basalt stone of local heritage structures. Reflective material planes create a paradoxical visual poetry in which archaic forms of the adjacent museum are recast and distorted in a new perspective.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_12.gif)
The pre-defined footprint is organically punctured by existing trees that project through openings in the roof, yielding localized deviations in the otherwise low-key scale spaces.
![Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects Prince of Wales Visitors Centre by RMA Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/10/dezeen_Prince-of-Wales-Visitors-Centre-by-RMA-Architects_13.gif)
Integration of natural textures with modern means and materials further expands the defining narrative of the center, that of a culturally meaningful intervention within a monumental historic context.