Newport Street Gallery
Newport Street Gallery
This gallery in South London, for the artist Damien Hirst, involved the conversion of a terrace of Grade II listed industrial buildings that were formerly theatre carpentry and scenery painting workshops. The project’s technical success was the result of a close collaborative relationship between architects Caruso St John and us advising on both structural engineering and conservation aspects.
Our initial involvement was to devise a conservation strategy for the buildings, which unlocked their use as a gallery. This required an assessment of their historical development, significance and their potential for change.
We subsequently acted as structural engineers to support the artist’s vision for the site. An early, major issue, was considering the movement and installation of large heavy pieces of art. We worked closely with our client to understand the type of art that was likely to be displayed in each area, and therefore what the structural implications would be. Consequently, the gallery floors have been designed for very onerous imposed loads (between 5 & 30kN/m2) to carry heavy pieces of artwork. This includes some large tanks of art in formaldehyde solution and sculptures weighing up to 135 tonnes.
Buildings nos. 3, 5 and 7 were retained with a new steel frame to form a basement and two double height gallery floors, whilst building nos. 1 and 9 were new steel framed structures with a load-bearing masonry façade. A significant feature of the project is the main staircase that serves the galleries. This is made of engineered timber sitting in an independent self-stable load-bearing brick shaft. Ultimately, our input helped to develop the design of an exciting space for the display and creation of art.
Newport Street Gallery was awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize and nominated for the EU Mies van de Rohe Award.
Awards:
RIBA Stirling Prize
RIBA National Award
RIBA London Award
Nominated, EU Mies van der Rohe Award
Brick Awards (Craftsmanship, Best Public Building and Supreme Award)
Client: Damien Hirst