Project :: 385 : Dulwich Picture Gallery
Introduction
"Mather 's work at Dulwich is a masterpiece of subtle, informed understatement where the feel for Soane has been combined with a flair for, and awareness of, the potential offered by new forms and new materials."
Dan Cruikshank
Domus magazine
Description
This is England's first public art gallery (1811), an architectural masterpiece by Sir John Soane. Suggesting a formal quadrangle, the new building forms a cloistered entrance garden in front of the gallery. Central to the design is the cloister, which links the cafe, lecture room and education centre to the main picture gallery. It mediates between the differing architectural styles, setting up a shifting rhythm with glass rooflights reflecting the buttresses of the chapel. The existing gallery has been entirely restored, including sophisticated new artificial and natural lighting discretely incorporated into the existing building fabric.
The brief called for all the facilities that a modern gallery requires: to provide a suitable environment for the collection; to provide a temporary gallery; to improve the visitor support facilities by providing a cafe, toilets, lecture hall and education space; and to improve the back of house facilities, including workshops and a picture store.
Although there is little visual evidence of change, the original gallery building has been entirely refurbished with modern computer-controlled variable daylighting through the roof lights, modern lighting replacing the old fluorescent and concealed black-out blinds bringing the lighting levels control within modern conservation standards.
Externally the east facade has been remodelled by replacing the redundant 1950s windows with a series of blind arches, echoing the original, and creating greater internal hanging space. The gardens have been subtly remodelled with a new footpath leading to the gallery entrance, creating a promenade within the newly opened up south garden.
The new building is designed as a thick garden wall and using the original red brick of the wall with glass inserts to distinguish the individual elements. The southern façade of the café and the facades of the cloister open to engage the garden and the main gallery. The glazing is shaded by the stainless steel mesh hung between supports acting as a brise-soleil. The temporary gallery can also be adapted to become a lecture theatre by lowering the floor. The new education space is inserted between the existing chapel and the back of house facilities.
Awards
2002
Civic Trust Award
2000
RIBA / Crown Estate Conservation Award
AIA - Business Week/Architectural Record Award
RIBA Award
Blueprint Architecture Award Finalist
Press
Museum Practice Magazine
Clear Vision
Javier Pes - Summer 2009
The New York Times
The Galleries of London Seen with Fresh Eyes
Giles Worsley - 7 Jan 01
Domus
La prima galleria d'arte (The first art gallery)
Dan Cruikshank - Oct 00
Architectural Review
Spirit of Soane
Peter Davey - Aug 00
Daily Telegraph
Overhauled but understated
Giles Worsley - 23 May 00
The Times
Reframed in glass
Marcus Binney - 23 May 00
Evening Standard
Now it's Dulwich modern as gallery in £9m facelift re-opens
Robin Stringer - 25 May 00
The New York Times
An American expatriate sheds light on London
Tracie Rozhon - 5 April 01
Architecture Today
Light Touch - Mather at Soane's Dulwich Picture Gallery
Robert Harbison - July 00
Building Design
Rick'll fix it
Catherine Croft - 2 June 00
The Times
Reframed in glass
Marcus Binney - 23 May 00
La Monde
La renaissance de la Dulwich Gallery
8 May 00
The Art Newspaper
London's most popular museum architect - Rick Mather times three
Giulia Ajmone-Marsan, Cristina Ruiz, and Martin Bailey - May 97
Building Design
Mather marks new direction for gallery
20 Oct 95
Details
Client
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Location
Dulwich, London, UK
Size
3,075m²
Value
£8m
Completed
May 00
Supported by
Heritage Lottery Fund
Linbury Trust
Bridge House Estate Trust
Headley Trust
Sackler Foundation
Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
Wolfson Foundation
- Started : 1995-11-01
- Completed : 2000-05-30
- Country : UK
- County : London
- City : Dulwich
- m2 : 3075
