This project was a detailed feasibility study for the conversion of five Grade II listed mid-Victorian townhouses in South Kensington. These were previously in use as office and residential accommodation. Our study explored the creation of a commercial art gallery complex, which was to offer flexibility of tenure to as many as forty small gallery operations. In addition to this, the later rear extensions of the houses were to be converted into a large 'museum quality' exhibition space able to accommodate travelling exhibitions. The scheme considered the houses as found spaces, with specific qualities of scale, materiality and light which informed the design of the complex’s new spaces.

A new entrance, set back from Thurloe Street, within its own courtyard, was designed to have distinctly ambiguous qualities that engaged its heritage context in a critical fashion. Drawing on commercial, industrial and domestic precedent, it developed its own, unique form and language.  The historic spatial hierarchy of the houses was to be retained and adapted with public spaces on the lower levels and more private accommodation set above. Along with a bistro / café, and bookshop, this proposal created a new typology which responded to the changing dynamics of the art market.