Dulwich Picture Gallery
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A transformation of the Grade II* listed Dulwich Picture Gallery to increase the openness of the site and welcome new audiences
Gallery site and gardens
The Dulwich Picture Gallery, designed by Sir John Soane in 1817, is the first purpose-built public art gallery in the UK. Located in London’s garden suburb of Dulwich, it houses an internationally recognised collection of over six hundred paintings including European masterpieces by Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough, and Canaletto, as well as being world-renowned for its temporary exhibitions programme.
The transformation of the gallery’s site and three acres of green space will be the biggest redevelopment in over 20 years, opening the gallery to new audiences to experience art and architecture within the wider landscape.
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A new children's picture gallery
A standalone timber pavilion for children will create a permanent space for art-based creative play, set within the extensive gallery gardens. The new lightweight pavilion will be built and clad with timber, reducing embodied carbon and creating warm, tactile spaces for children and families to enjoy.
The façades are composed with circular window openings to provide views across the garden. Its square form plan will be angled at 45 degrees to the gallery, to reinforce the relationship of the pavilion with the landscape and the two entrances to the site. Inside, a timber reciprocal frame roof structure will filter natural daylight into the centre of the internal cruciform plan. The building is completed with painted metal canopies to provide places to sit, play and explore, while reducing overheating.
Environmental design approach
To improve facilities in the gardens, a Grade II listed cottage building, neighbouring the children’s pavilion, will be sensitively restored and extended to bring it back into public use. The restored cottage building will reveal new views across the site and provide much-needed space for school lunches, a shop and a public café.
The new pavilion building and the extension to the existing cottage will be constructed with lightweight timber frames resulting in low embodied carbon construction. The fabric-first approach results in low energy in use. As part of the project a new ground source heat pump will decarbonise the existing gallery’s heating systems alongside supplying new buildings.
Material innovation
Using low tech materials and methods of construction to reduce embodied carbon in the building, including a structural timber frame and innovative reciprocal roof, lightweight metal canopies and lapped timber cladding protected with a textured plant-based paint.
Data and Team
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Location
London, UK
Area
191m2
Status
Ongoing
Directors
Andy Groarke, Kevin Carmody
Project lead
Neil Michels
Project architect
Chiara Barrett
Project team
Rory Allen
Structural engineer
Structure Workshop
Services engineer
Webb Yates
Landscape artist
Kim Wilkie
Play designers
Sarah Marsh and Stephanie Jeffries
Model making
Measure Workshop
Photography
Richard Davies (model photography)