Journal Posts - Jamie Fobert Architects

On Wednesday 17 February at 6pm, Jamie will be talking about ‘Designing great art spaces for the twenty-first century’ as part of a series of online talks for the Friends of Kettle’s Yard.

Jamie will give an illustrated 45-minute talk about designing galleries and support spaces that anticipate current art practice and allow curators maximum freedom. He will include our work at Kettle’s Yard, Tate St Ives, the National Portrait Gallery, and more. There will be a chance for audience questions.

Find out more and book your tickets here

(Pictured: ‘Jennifer Lee: the Potter’s Space’ at Kettle’s Yard in 2019)

Jamie invited The Modern House into his Clerkenwell home, to tell them the story of its design, and talk about what it means to live in a modern way:

“Designing someone’s house, you have to be very careful not to make it sensational, because a home is where people have to wake up every morning, somewhere where they have to come home to, where they have to be on a rainy day, where they have to be when they’re feeling ill and where they celebrate and entertain.”

Read more and see the beautiful photographs here.

Pace Gallery have announced plans to open a new London gallery on Hanover Square in Autumn 2021. We are delighted that Pace has chosen Jamie Fobert Architects to design this 800m2 space.

We have very much enjoyed the challenge of re-configuring the premises at Hanover Square to provide Pace with excellent facilities for the display of changing exhibitions and to create a beautiful working environment for their staff. A complex of workspaces, including a library and viewing rooms, are centred around a new double-height void which allows daylight into the lower level work environment.

Our new work for Pace continues a a longstanding relationship; we designed their first London gallery on Lexington Street in 2011.

Jamie was invited by Building Design to share a favourite building as part of their new 50 Wonders series, which marks the magazine’s 50^th birthday.

Jamie selected the Sao Paulo Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism by architect Vilanova Artigas, a building he came across on his travels a few years ago:

“From wherever you approach, you move seamlessly under an immense canopy into the school without ever encountering a door. This is an exceptionally public building, with a sense of commonality throughout; its broad ramps, long benches and social spaces have a generosity of scale combined with modesty of detail.”

Read the full BD article here.

We are very excited to be supporting this year’s Accelerate programme, a design education and mentoring scheme developed by Open City in partnership with The Bartlett, which aims at widening diversity in the architecture industry.

We will be providing two mentors for sixth form school students from underrepresented backgrounds taking part in the programme. We hope that we might encourage and help these students prepare to study architecture at university.

To learn more about Open City’s Accelerate programme click here.

The Modern House has commissioned a lovely new set of photographs of Kander House, which is currently up for sale. See the listing and images here.

Kander House, a Victorian townhouse situated in London’s Primrose Hill is structured around a distinctive concrete figure, a compelling object in its own right, which also acts as structural support for the building. The garden was embraced as integral to the design of the main living space. It has made a wonderful family home for our clients for the past 15 years.

The house was awarded the 2007 RIBA London Award and shortlisted for both the Manser Medal and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. To learn more about the project click here.

Jamie contributes to Pamela Buxton’s article on how the Covid-19 pandemic has influenced and may affect museums and galleries, as they begin to open their doors once more to visitors. Topics from safety to funding and sustainability are discussed, along with some possible changes we can expect to see put in place moving forward.

Jamie comments that “The one positive thing that might happen is that when they [galleries and museums] do come back, people will appreciate the experience they offer all the more.”

Read the full article in The RIBA Journal.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending time creating observational studies in pencil and watercolour. They are reflections on the nature of the light as it alters through the day on the tiled facade of our building at Tate St Ives. The tiles were hand-glazed in multiple layers of green and blue onto pale yellow ceramic. Tilted gently upward they capture the light and shifting sky of St Ives. In series – Dusk – Midday – Dawn. These studies are, as has been noted, very much influenced by the work of the great Agnes Martin, who is without a doubt one of my favourite artists. But for me they remain architectural drawings, grounded in the language of the measured drawing and material representation. @tate @tatestives #tatestives #watercolour #elevations #cornwall #ceramics #glaze #architecture #architecturedrawings #measureddrawing #ephemeral #shifting

We are very happy to have been appointed to the new Southwark Council architectural services framework; from a ‘fiercely competitive’ shortlist, we have been selected for ‘Education, social care and community projects’ over £10m.

The framework, administered by LHC, is open to any contracting authority in London. It intends to be an antidote to typical local authority frameworks, opening up public sector opportunities to ‘the best architectural practices able to deliver innovative construction services’. Certainly, the line-up of designers appointed is very impressive. We are proud to be among them and excited for the future opportunities offered.