Roman Road Gallery

• LOCATION: Bethnal Green, London
• PROJECT: Refurbishment and extension at ground level
• CLIENT: Roman Road Gallery
• ARCHITECT: Threefold Architects
• STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Osborne Edwards
• QUANTITY SURVEYOR: N/A
• CONTRATCOR: Hi-Spec Build (phase 1); Fisk Interiors (phase 2)
• CONSTRUCTION COST: £325,000 + VAT
• CONTRACT: JCT Intermediate Building Contract with Contractor Design
• DATE COMPLETED: 2015

Project brief

The location is a narrow and contextually complex site in the heart of Bethnal Green in London. The building at the front of the site was formerly a commercial premises with an office on the first floor. The building at the rear was a Victorian carpenter’s workshop and warehouse with a small walled external courtyard. The brief was unique and challenging: to create a dynamic new contemporary art gallery connected to the curator’s house and garden, which are themselves an extension of the gallery space.

Project specifics

After carrying out a feasibility study we decided that the best location for the main public commercial gallery was fronting Roman Road, with its street presence and ‘shop window’ facade. We located the more private viewing rooms and living spaces towards the back, with bedrooms on the first floor. Strategically, it was decided to carry out the project in two phases: first, the creation of the commercial gallery to initiate the client’s business, and second, the client’s private gallery, living spaces and sculpture courtyard.

Ultimately, the finished project completely renovated, reconfigured and knitted together the conjoined but disconnected existing buildings. It also created a new new single-storey extension from contrasting black bricks and glass, which opens the building out on to a brick-paved sculpture courtyard, surrounded by a combination of reclaimed masonry walls and new Corten panels. These were all concealed behind bespoke brick entrance gates.

The flow, character and function of the spaces reflect the link between life and art in the home of the curator-collector. The unprepossessing former building has been transformed into an unexpected double-height gallery space, which opens to the house through sliding screens and on to the courtyard with an expanded flexible space for larger exhibitions, private views and screenings. On the first floor, a folded-steel cantilevered stair leads to the gallery office and private accommodation. A consistent and restrained palette of materials was used throughout, with crisp bespoke black joinery and metalwork set against the rugged industrial character of the existing buildings.

Project challenges

• To unify disparate buildings of contrasting styles with overlapping public and private programmes.
• To obtain planning and change-of-use consent, for a contemporary new extension within the local conservation area.
• To phase the project, working with two different contractors following on from each other.
• The solid folded-steel cantilevered stair was made and delivered off site, which required careful handling to avoid damaging the powder-coated finish.
• The removal of the floor to create a double-height gallery space created a complex structural bracing solution that had to be hidden within the structure of the internal walls.