Rem Koolhaas, along with his OMA cohort, were hard to miss in October as the month saw the opening of their Maggie’s Centre in Glasgow and a mighty exhibition of work-in-progress at the Barbican, London. With the Rothschild HQ nearing completion in the City of London the Dutch practice has been busy in London since 2007, when it won the competition to breathe life back into the former Commonwealth Institute building..

‘OMA’s relationship with London has been, and is, related to the Sixties,’ says Reinier de Graaf, who acknowledges that this is ‘nicely counterintuitive because it’s a period least liked here’. The OMA partner and director of think tank AMO says OMA has become ‘advocates for a part of London’s orphaned heritage, which the prevailing mood likes to eradicate.’.

The hyperbolic paraboloid copper roof of the Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington exudes the energy of post-Festival of Britain experiments. Designed by RMJM and completed in 1962, it has sat empty for almost 10 years, a lonely figure with a leaking roof, which very nearly met a ghastly end when the government proposed stripping its Grade II* listed status. ‘The quality of modernism [in London] is extreme but the hostility towards it is also extreme,’ observes de Graaf.

OMA’s scheme proposes housing to sit alongside the cultural institution, in the shape of three blocks ranging from six to nine storeys. ‘We have a relationship where the new has the added responsibility to help fund renovation of the old,’ explains de Graaf. The additions appear quiet in a nod to the existing jewel, and were designed so that from the street the smaller ‘cube’ conceals the larger one. Says de Graaf: ‘We designed them in perspective so that you might mistake it for a discrete intervention.’ The architect adds: ‘You can be modern in London provided you don’t show it – the new has an unspoken obligation to make itself invisible.’

The Design Museum recently took two significant strides forward in its bid to move home and, in doing so, cemented its reputation as one of the world’s most ambitious museums of design.

At the end of September it received a first-round pass for major funding from Heritage Lottery Fund, and architect John Pawson submitted an initial planning application for the new interior. The move will see a change of scenery from the breezy but cramped setting at Shad Thames to an altogether more dramatic location at the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington.

This new location will not only be able to house the Design Museum’s bulging collection, it will breathe life into a building considered to be the second-most important modernist building in London, currently being restored as part of a scheme by Dutch architect OMA.

Rather than being an anomaly, against the recession-odds several major new galleries and museums have opened in quick succession, notably Hepworth Wakefield by David Chipperfield and the Glasgow Riverside Museum by Zaha Hadid (Both projects: Blueprint August 2011).

These two buildings share a certain unabashed courage at a scale not often seen in Britain; they also mark the homecoming for a pair of prolific architects whose work has been distinctly absent on home turf. OMA might also be thrown into this mix. A practice born in London in 1975 it has nevertheless only just completed its first two buildings in the UK. Hepworth Wakefield and Glasgow Riverside do have more in common:  the museums of Chipperfield and Hadid were also funded by HLF (more than £25m between the two).

This year is a big year for Heritage Lottery Fund. In addition to the  aforementioned, old museums have been teased back to life with new lungs (Eric Parry’s extension at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath), tired galleries dedicated to cherished artists have been saved from disintegration (Watts Gallery in Surrey by ZMMA), and former industrial buildings, which had long-forgotten their original use, have now found a cultural purpose (Bristol harbour’s M-Shed by LAB Architecture). Consequently, 2011 has been big for British architecture too.

These projects have filled the national media and allowed contemporary architecture to quietly step into the public spotlight – and be shown in a positive light, for a change. Even more subtle is that these would not have even been a twinkle in the eye without HLF’s forward-thinking determination. ‘Many people think we just preserve cathedrals and castles,’ says Ian Morrision, head of historic environment conservation at the HLF.‘We’re constantly battling to change that perception.’

There is an inherent problem with the word ‘heritage’ – it appears no one is quite sure exactly how to define it. HLF is all too aware of this, so instead of trying to change its name, it invited official bodies and members of the public to take part in a three-month consultation at the beginning of this year, looking at how it should spend its money. The consultation, called Shaping the Future, can be seen as an acknowledgment that as other sources of public investment become rare there is a pressing need to inspire people to be part of tomorrow’s heritage.

Aside from its work with cathedrals and castles, HLF is keen to point out that there is a considered focus in heritage on the role of contemporary architecture. Since its inception in 1994, HLF has awarded funding totalling £4.6bn, including £2.5bn on the built environment – £1bn of which has gone towards new buildings. That’s enough to make quite an impact on the built environment.

‘It is HLF’s mission to change people’s relationship with heritage from one of passive to active engagement,’ says Morrison. ‘By its very nature a new public building belongs to everyone, whereas there can be a sense that historic buildings belong to someone else.’

Architecture is a crucial tool today in maintaining the relevance of this country’s heritage and culture. During the past 17 years, 14,800 buildings have benefitted from HLF funding. A fair proportion of this number comprises the conservation of listed buildings – Britain’s treasured relics – including the removal of more than 160 buildings from the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register. These projects have not simply entailed a lick of paint, but have been about adaptation and allowing historic buildings to work in the context of 21st-century society.

An emphasis on accessibility has seen thoughtful investigations into how architecture might solve problems such as how much of a museum collection can be on public display. For example, the Ashmolean Museum doubled its display space following Rick Mather’s extension. Equally, the reinterpretation of entrances

The impact of HLF funding on British culture is staggering, not least because of how it equalises culture across the country, shifting any bias away from London, and also balancing attention between urban and rural communities. The new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum by Simpson & Brown, modestly nestled in Ayrshire, has created a whole new way for young people to engage with the hugely significant Scottish literary figure. It was shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize 2011.

‘We want people to come to us with an idea and for us to find value,’ says Morrison. In the Nineties, Ted Cullinan’s Weald & Downland Gridshell was an experiment in architecture, though the project had a greater ambition. ‘It’s not just about saving historic buildings but looking to weave in life-changing opportunities such as volunteering and skills-training,’ says Morrison. ‘Our decision is based on that potential,’ he adds. It seems that a focused and relevant version of a certain piece of Coalition Government jargon has been on the scene much longer.

In recent times it has been difficult to feel optimistic about what the future holds for cultural institutions, what with a flood of local authority cost-saving, followed by Arts Council England cuts. Far from doom and gloom however, HLF has seen its annual awards budget significantly increase from £180m in the previous tax year to £300m for 2011/12. This is related to the Government’s review of the distribution

The projects illustrated on these pages speak of a flourish in large cultural buildings, but it would go against the grain of HLF to solely focus on the headline-grabbers. It is poignant to note that architects are also involved in projects at a modest scale, for which HLF-funding is having an enormous influence on people’s lives.

mall architecture and design studio We Made That is working on several HLF-funded projects, ranging from a free newspaper about a London high street to mobile Festival of Britain displays along Southbank. ‘The common thread is engaging people with a whole spectrum of cultural subjects as well as the smaller everyday stuff around them,’ says Holly Lewis, partner at We Made That. ‘Sometimes heritage is getting the faithfully correct lime-render mix, sometimes it’s the undertaking of a new building. At other times, we need to take a different approach and expand on what heritage can mean.’

Both the architecture profession and HLF are involved in their own delicate game of jigsaw at the moment. HLF has found itself assuming the role of modern-day philanthropist to the heritage and arts in this country. There is a sense that an important relationship is forming where one needs the other in equal proportions. ‘Contemporary architecture breathes life into heritage. Equally, heritage provides a context for new buildings,’ says Morrison. ‘The two sit very neatly next to each other.’