Kettle’s Yard

The Project

The much-loved Kettle's Yard House and Gallery began life as the home of curator and art collector Jim Ede and is now part of the University of Cambridge. Our major building project involved a series of gentle additions to the original building, to offer new contemporary galleries and greatly improved support services for visitors. The New Kettle's Yard opened in Spring 2018.

A new entrance and spacious welcome area offers clear access to all the different elements of Kettle’s Yard: the original House - a place where contemporary art, historic and natural objects sit comfortably within a modest domestic interior - and its 1970 extension, the new galleries, the new education wing, and the new shop and café.

The two spacious new gallery spaces are suitable for exhibiting very large works, which could previously not be accommodated at Kettle's Yard . There is an additional small display space - a window gallery of sorts - allowing art to be displayed directly onto busy Castle Street.

The new, fully accessible education wing expands education space at Kettle’s Yard by almost 200 per cent. It incorporates a generous, double-height Clore Learning Studio at basement level. On the upper floors, open to everyone, are a new archive room and a project space.

The education wing looks directly onto the frontage on Castle Street, making visible this important aspect of Kettle’s Yard’s work.

The entire spatial sequence feels intended—from the original house, which comprises reclaimed artisanal cottages acquired by founder Jim Ede in 1956, through the outstanding 1970s extension by Leslie Martin and David Owers, into the new wing. Continuity has been achieved by sensitivity to the domestic scale and calm aesthetic of the house and by repetition of the brickwork and simple volumes of rough plaster of the existing galleries.

Photography ©Hufton+Crow

Historic fabric

Kettle’s Yard as a building has evolved through a series of additions. It began when Jim Ede purchased and transformed a set of old, dilapidated cottages to form the House. The most important addition to the House is Sir Leslie Martin and David Owers’s 1970 extension, a masterpiece of late modern architecture. Following this, a series of small extensions were added as and when adjacent land became available. In our project, a bold decision was taken to demolish everything from the 1970 extension to the retained Victorian façade on Castle Street. However, our respect for the 1970 fabric is manifest in the decision to carry out an element of restoration as a part of the project, making reference to archival drawings, photographs and conversations with David Owers.

The 1970 additions were predominantly built in brick, as seen in this photograph of the opening exhibition (above left). But over the years this area was altered to allow for an education space; the walls were plastered, a door added, and the bench drastically altered (above centre, 2014). The final photograph (above right) is taken during construction, where the original brick walls have been revealed and a new brick bench is almost complete. The revealed walls are peppered with drill holes from 47 years of hanging work.

Awards

Winner in Civic Trust Awards 2020
Winner in RIBA National Awards 2019
Shortlisted for RIBA Client of the Year 2019
Winner in RIBA East Award 2019
BD Architect of the Year ‘Public Building’ Award and Gold Award 2019
Finalist in the AJ Retrofit Awards 2018

Press

The Guardian – Oliver Wainwright : “The groundbreaking home-turned-gallery’s £11m extension is both exceptional and modest – perfectly in keeping with the ethos of its visionary creator”.

Wallpaper* – Harriet Thorpe : “With his perceptive approach to heritage and ability to make conservation contemporary, Jamie Fobert is fast emerging as a first choice architect for cultural institutions across the UK”.

The Architects Journal – Jon Astbury : “Carefully conceived to complement and enhance the qualities of the original house, the development includes new exhibition galleries, education spaces, a café and new welcome areas, greatly enhancing Kettle’s Yard’s offering as a centre for contemporary and modern art outside London”.

Frieze – Gillian Darley: “the transformation has been achieved, seemingly, by sleight of hand. Jamie Fobert Architects inserted a set of entirely new buildings which, until you set off for a room in the four-storey education centre or press on past the entrance area towards the pair of full height white-walled exhibition galleries, you scarcely suspect are there at all. The effect is the result of adherence to a palette of materials and forms that spill over and bond the old extension and the new front of house”

Sketches

Model

Elevations

On Site

Collaborators

Structural Engineer: Elliott Wood
Environmental / M&E Engineer: AECOM
Project Management: 3PM
Main Contractor: SDC
Lighting consultant: Lightplan

And: Lazenby, Bassett + Findley, Coulson