Tate Modern Blavatnik Building
Tate Modern Blavatnik Building
Tate St Ives
The new light-filled extension at Tate St Ives seamlessly integrates elegant architecture and exemplary environmental design.
Key information
Architect
Jamie Fobert Architects
Client
Tate St Ives
Value
£20M
Year of Completion
2017
Sector
Services
Challenge
We worked with Jamie Fobert Architects on this new 1,320m2 extension to Tate St Ives, continuing our longstanding relationship with the Tate and the original gallery, which opened in 1993.
Opened in 2017, the new extension is part of a major refurbishment that allows the Tate to stay open all year round, with a large new gallery space dedicated to seasonal contemporary art exhibitions, art-handling facilities, education spaces, offices and storage, and a public rooftop biodiverse garden area above the gallery.
Sunk into the cliffside, the flexible new 600m2 gallery doubles the exhibition space at Tate St Ives. Allowing natural light into the gallery was fundamental to the success of the space and our environmental engineers worked closely with the architects to create a beautiful, softly-lit environment within conservation limits.
Elsewhere in the Tate St Ives refurbishment we provided acoustic consultancy, designing seamless noise absorption in the semi-conical roof of the new Clore Sky Studio to provide appropriate acoustic performance in this stunning multi-purpose space.
This project continues our long association with Tate, having worked on the development of every one of their galleries around the UK; from their art store in south London to Switch House at Tate Modern, designed with architects Herzog & de Meuron. We also worked with Evans and Shalev Architects on the original Tate St Ives gallery which opened in 1993.
Designing with daylight
Jamie Fobert noted that ‘our main material for the project was daylight’, more specifically, the soft Cornish light that has made this area so appealing to generations of artists, many of them on display at Tate St Ives.
We modelled the precise lux levels allowed by international standards for the display of art, from which the architects generated their form for the building. With the architects, we designed six large light-wells set into the gallery roof that draw in a controlled level of natural diffuse light. The triple-glazed system enriches the visitor experience, while keeping within conservation limits for cumulative natural and artificial light exposure, and dramatically reducing the lighting energy use in the gallery.
Image
© Hufton + Crow
Quote
“A subtle scheme that beautifully bridges a generation in art and architecture. This is an elegant and, I think, altogether unexpected gallery. Six room-sized rooflights …scoop a southern light into the gallery but it is filtered, muted and, on the day I visited, stole plenty of the exquisite silvery Atlantic light from the skies.”
Image Carousel
Total of 2 images
©2012 Ian Woolcock Shutterstock
© Hufton + Crow
Awards highlights
| 2018 | RIBA Stirling Prize | Shortlist |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | RIBA National Award | |
| 2018 | RIBA South West Award |
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