Tate Gallery St Ives
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Buildings prominent position above the beach
John Edward Linden (website) Download Original
Gallery built to exhibit the works by the St Ives School of artists, consisting of sculpture and picture galleries, restaurant and roof terrace
The architects proposed a bold design featuring a circular entrance, which echoes the shape of the gas holder previously sited there. This entrance space, rather like an amphitheatre, allowed for a breathtaking curved gallery above, with views overlooking the Atlantic.
Arranged over four floors, the design echoes the architecture of the town. Each of the spaces in the building is a different shape and a different volume and communicates a different sense of perception as you move through it.
The coastal landscape of the surrounding area was also a great influence on the architects. They stated their wish to create a 'dialogue' between the building and its environs, creating exhibition spaces that reflected the very landscape that had provided the inspiration for much of the artwork displayed on its walls
Data
- Begun: Jun 1991
- Completed: Jun 1993
- Floor area: 1,728m2
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £2M
- Procurement: JCT Standard Form 1980 Local Authorities Eddition revised May 1988
- Address: Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, TR26 1TG, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Evans and Shalev Architects
- Client: Cornwall County Council
- Main contractor: Dudley Coles
- Services engineer: Max Fordham & Partners
- Structural engineer: Jenkins and Potter
- Quantity surveyor: Monk Dunstone Associates
Suppliers
- Gallery Wall linings: Graham Builders Merchants
- Granite Walling: T Marsh
- Precast concrete copings, sills, lintels: W J Ladd
- Glass blocks: Solaglas