We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. Visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to learn more. You can opt out of some cookies by adjusting your browser settings. More information on how to do this can be found in the cookie policy. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies.

Sperone Westwater Gallery

Foster + Partners, New York, 2010

 

Subscribe now to instantly view this image

Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.

Already a subscriber? Sign in

The Sperone Westwater Gallery by night 

Nigel Young     Download Original

  • The Sperone Westwater Gallery by night    
  • The Sperone Westwater Gallery on New York    
  • The curtain wall facade dominates the building    
  • The moving floor in its lift shaft     
  • The small lobby is transformed by the vertical movement of the moving room     
  • The two-storey public gallery leads to an east-facing sculpture gallery    
  • Inside the lift, the     
  • Detail of the CNC-milled panels     
  • The rooftop sculpture terrace     
  • Site plan    
  • Ground-floor plan    
  • First-floor plan    
  • Second-floor plan    
  • Fourth-floor plan    
  • Seventh floor plan    
  • Street elevation    
  • Facade section    
  • Elevation plan showing the     
  • Cross section showing floors     

Eight storey art gallery on a narrow site with a glazed facade incorporating a lift that can be used as an extension to gallery spaces

This project wanted both to step up to the dynamic urban character of New York’s Bowery and to rethink the way in which art is presented in the setting of a gallery.

The CNC milled glass facade houses the central feature, the moving room, which connects the five floors where the exhibits will be displayed. This lift acts as a buffer zone, protecting the building from extreme temperatures and acoustically insulating the galleries.

The space can also be used as an extension to the exhibition areas by parking the lift on the floor required, while additional lifts and rear staircases can supplement as links between the floors.

At street level the design incorporates a mezzanine floor and double-height display areas. At the top of the public floors, a sculpture terrace is situated towards the park, with a private viewing gallery beyond.

The offices are defined by a set back facade, on the top floors. A library is located at the top of the building below the mechanical floor, and functions as an events space.

Data

  • Begun: Mar 2009
  • Completed: Sep 2010
  • Floor area: 1,858m2
  • Sector: Arts and culture
  • Procurement: Guaranteed Maximum Price
  • Address: Sperone Westwater Gallery, 257 Bowery, New York, NY 10002, United States

Professional Team