Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall
- Client: Newlyn Art Gallery
- Principal designer: MUMA (McInnes Usher McKnight Architects)
- Principal engineer: Buro Happold/Dewhurst Macfarlane
- Principal contractor: Cowlin Construction
- Contract value: £950,000
About the project
A sensitive addition has breathed new life into Newlyn Art Gallery. Much of the original form of the Grade-II listed building had been altered over the years, but its original quality has now been recovered.
The design of new two-storey extension is sympathetic to the existing gallery and captures the unique qualities of light and landscape of the Cornish peninsula. A fully glazed ground floor – with the entrance, café and shop – will eventually be surrounded by luscious planted gardens. The upper storey is clad in wet-laid Cornish slate. Although modern in concept, local materials and building techniques – drawing on the expertise of local slate specialists and craftsmen – are in perfect harmony with the original gallery.
The plan has been rationalised and the gallery is fully accessible, with free-entry gallery spaces and new education and resource areas. Success has outstripped expectations: there were higher visitor numbers and sales in the first seven months than in the previous full year.
As part of the same construction contract, some of the facilities of the gallery have been transferred to a former 1950s telephone exchange in Penzance – known as The Exchange.
Judges' comment
"A perfect minimalist addition to a gallery where the view is on a par with the art."