Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art
Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art
Working with Turner-Prize winning design studio Assemble, we worked as lead structural engineers to create a new public art gallery within the Grade II listed former Victorian bathhouse at Laurie Grove, New Cross. The 1000m2 building accommodates seven new gallery spaces, a café, curators’ studio and event space. As a critical testing ground for exploration and discussion, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art is a cultural resource for students, artists and the wider public, offering a diverse programme focused on exhibitions, events and education.
The structural works involved the removal of some floors within the building to provide a new double-height project space, the creation of two new top-lit white-cube gallery spaces, the provision of new stairs and a lift, the conversion of disused water tanks into new gallery spaces and the creation of a new, external courtyard. The top-lit galleries provide a distinct spatial counterpoint: a new whole, comprised of found spaces, adapted spaces and inserted spaces.
The 1,000m2, £4.5 million building has been part-funded by £1.4 million raised at a Christie’s auction of works by alumni of the college, including pieces by Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Antony Gormley.
”This is a gutsy rework that both preserves the distinctive layers of the history of the building and uses bold moves to create rich new incident and spaces for showing art.”
- Rob Wilson, The Architects’ Journal
Client: Goldsmiths, University of London
Architects: Assemble