Wolverhampton Art Gallery
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Three-storey triangular extension to provide additional gallery and storage space, as part of the phased redevelopment of Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Rather than attempting to fit in with the two existing conservation facades of markedly different character and scale, this triangular scheme presents a sharp corner and the entrance to an inner courtyard to the street.
The three-storey, steel-framed building has a concrete basement art store with two triangular floors of gallery space above. The ground floor is dedicated to Pop Art, the upper floor is for travelling exhibitions and connects on its west side to a rectangular gallery facing the main street.
The new triangle is linked to the old building by a full-height, top-lit atrium. The atrium resolves existing circulation problems and serves as a walkway between the main entrance, which is off a public courtyard to the east, and church gardens to the west.
The main facade has a ground-level strip of storey-height glass with a terracotta rainscreen above. This is arranged as horizontal courses with an intervening powder-coated bronzed aluminium strip every three layers. The flat roof has a series of slanting truncated cones, which provide daylighting and ventilation to the upper gallery space.
Data
- Completed: Mar 2007
- Floor area: 1,500m2
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £7.5M
- Address: Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DU, United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: Purcell
- Project architects: Niall Phillips, Tim Rolt
- Client: Wolverhampton Art Gallery
- Main contractor: William Sapcote & Sons
- Quantity surveyor: WCC Quantity Surveyors
- Structural engineer: Ramboll Whitbybird
- Services engineer: BDP
- Planning supervisor: Derek Evans H&S
- Facade Specialist: MBM
Suppliers
- Raised floor: Lindner
- Polished plaster gallery walls: Armourcoat
- Acoustic ceiling: StoSilent
- MDF and veneer walls: Shopspec
- Stone: Neumeyer & Brigl
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