Cheltenham

The competition proposed a new temporary gallery to work with the existing museum and gallery.

Our proposal looked at the urban space around the gallery and ways of improving access into the museum to boost visitor numbers. The ground floor was designed as a clear link bridging the front and rear inviting the building to be used as a thoroughfare/meeting point by pedestrians. Internally cafes and shops were clustered around the entrance to support this strategy.

The circulation system was designed to allow for the long term incorporation of the library into the museum and to facilitate disable access.

The competition asked for black box galleries lit artificially. We took a view that to allow flexibility of use in the long term and to reduce cooling and lighting loads, the temporary galleries should be day lit. The temporary galleries were located at high level and lit with roof lights controlling daylight from the sky. This arrangement allowed the art to be displayed in natural light and improved sustainability by reducing lighting and cooling loads.

Project Team
Carl Callaghan, Susanna Dobson, Marco Leal, Jeff Leopando, Catarina Pina.