Rick Mather Architects has completed the new Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, UK. The building will accommodate any art-performing demands from a group of schoolchildren to a major artwork. It has stairs at each end of a corridor, steel, black and folded, as well as large corridor with a width of 2.4m and views at each end to support visitor’s experience.
This project is the latest addition to Rick Mather’s portfolios, which includes the Dulwich Picture Gallery extension, the expansion of London’s Wallace Collection, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the US and, coming soon, the Ashmolean in Oxford.
Featuring the curves sections, the architect kept its baroque tendencies firmly checked. Although, in reality there is only one curve which is the site perimeter. It used for many objectives such as dividing the plan into two parts: a square black zinc fronted, and a white curvy walled half, separated by the big corridor.
Urban-industrial class is applied in the interior as up to 1,800 lux lightbox ceiling panels are installed, imposing a geometry under which the flexible space can be divided up easily with a perfect proportion. Towner Gallery is well-tempered environmentally, with exposed concrete ceilings for heat retention and displacement ventilation through the walls.
Via. Photography by Daniel Clements
