Goldsmiths launches architecture competition to transform Laurie Grove into a gallery. Pic: Neil Clifton
Goldsmiths, University of London, has launched an architecture competition to build an art gallery at the back of Lewisham’s 19th-century bath houses.
The University has opened a two-stage competition to design a 400m2 gallery within the water tanks and adjacent spaces in Laurie Grove Baths, for a budget of £1.8m.
Located near New Cross Road, the studio will showcase regular exhibitions and research projects from international and local artists.
Architecture teams will compete with each other to design a sustainable, innovative project to represent Goldsmiths’ creativity and excellence.
The project’s £1.8 million budget will be funded entirely by fundraising and proposals which exceed this limit will be denied.
Goldsmiths Deputy Warden, Jane Powell, is one of six people judging the competition. She said: “The gallery will hopefully attract a range of international artists and generate a large amount of public interest. It will give not only those artists but students the opportunity to curate exhibitions and also conduct research projects.”
The five best practice ideas will be shortlisted and these participants will progress to stage two where the teams are given a comprehensive brief to produce a design.
Powell added: “The teams will be given a range of briefs, for example the gallery has to have a public entrance and be wheelchair accessible. The jury will look at the applications and see what they’ve done before, the ways that they visual things and the shortlist will likely be a combination of established practices and relatively new ones.”
According to Powell, the designs must original and interesting but feasible at the same time.
She said: “We’re looking for something different, not just your run of the mill galleries. We’re encouraging young and upcoming artists as well as experienced, but applicants need to be well organised at it’s not an easy application process. We’re looking for teams with the right expertise and who have imaginative ideas, but everything is dependent on budget.”
Other members of the judging panel include Head of Art at Goldsmiths, Richard Noble, architect Sir David Chipperfield and Candida Gertler, co-founder of Outset, a charitable foundation that supports contemporary art projects.
The deadline for project proposals is April 14 2014, and the winner will be announced in the second week of July.
It’s going to be a challenging one for architects. As Powell said, the designs must be original and interesting but feasible at the same time. Let’s wait and see who is going to win the proposal.