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DETAILS

Dairy Art Centre, London, UK

Art & Exhibitions / Museums & Galleries

The Dairy Art Centre is so called because it is in fact the conversion of a very old dairy in the heart of Bloomsbury in London which has lain empty for a number of years despite its prime site. Planning has been approved to turn the site into apartments but until then it has become a contemporary art gallery open to the public with free access. It is also available for special events and private functions. Due to its temporary nature there was minimum intervention to the architecture but sufficient to be able to present well artworks of all sizes and forms including an external courtyard for culture. There are a number of internal rooms which can have either daylight contribution or no daylight.

The lighting solutions were deliberately ‘economic’ utilising fluorescent battens to provide general white light with high colour rendering light sources. Additional battens mounted to the tops of roof trusses provide uplight to the open pitched roof ceilings. The external courtyard has a series of external spotlights mounted to the building. Through a simple switching arrangement different levels of illuminance can be achieved depending on the art and artist’s requirements.

Client: Frank Cohen / Nicolai Frahm
Project Manager: W.P.G
Architect: Studio Jenny Jones
Structural Engineering: Holt + Wotton
Conservation Engineering: Hayes and Adcock
Branding: North