The Project
We have created a new London home for Pace by reconfiguring an existing gallery space on Hanover Square.
The new gallery launched in October 2021 with an exhibition of paintings on paper by Mark Rothko and a multi-media installation and series of performances by Torkwase Dyson, commissioned for Pace Live.
With sustainability in mind, we retained the existing infrastructure; but the internal volumes have been considerably altered.
At the beginning of the project, Pace considered carefully the way gallery spaces should relate to workspaces within the new gallery. This became the generating idea of our work. The positioning of volumes and connections, both horizontal and vertical, has created a sense of fluid movement through the building. Art spaces and workspaces are integrated, giving the visitor a continuous dynamic experience.
By introducing a new lift—for disabled access as well as art handling—within the existing staircase, it has become possible for the lower ground floor to become a public space.
We cut a simple opening in the slab, allowing daylight down into the workspaces below. A new staircase in raw steel makes a strong vertical connection between the two floor levels.
The waxed raw mild steel is coloured by heat during its manufacturing process. The development of the sculptural staircase involved close collaboration with engineers Price & Myers and fabricators Cake Industries.
The two viewing rooms - one on each floor - are comfortable and welcoming spaces, with the option of privacy for clients. The ground-floor viewing room has a James Turrell piece built into the wall.
The three new galleries are highly flexible spaces, allowing the Pace team to show various types and scales of art practice by adding or removing internal walls and covering or revealing the windows to control the daylight.
Photography by Matt Clayton, courtesy Pace Gallery
Collaborators
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
Services Engineer: Max Fordham
Main Contractor: QOB Interiors
Staircase Fabricator: Cake Industries
And: EJL, Naturally Wood, Opus Magnum, VRDC, Protosheet, Strada, Canon Glass, Internal Linings, MALA.