ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. The Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire, England by Hugh Broughton ArchitectsMay 12th, 2016 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: v2com Hugh Broughton Architects has completed a new gallery on the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire. The new gallery, which officially opens to the public on 20 March 2016, will show changing displays of the historic Portland Collection, one of the finest accumulations of paintings, sculpture, books, tapestries and furniture in private hands in Britain. The collection includes Michelangelo’s rarely seen Madonna del Silenzio (c.1538) and the pearl earring worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649 – and many of the works have not been on public display until now.  Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow
 Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow The new 890 square metre gallery is set within the grounds of the existing Harley Gallery. Its design complements the heritage of the site and the historic interiors in the state rooms of Welbeck Abbey, whilst enhancing the visitor experience. The project was won through an invited competition organised by Malcolm Reading Consultants in 2012.  Entrance to the Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate, a purpose-built gallery space housing The Portland Collection, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow The new gallery is housed within the walls of the Tan Gallop, a redundant structure, which was previously used for training racehorses. Externally, elevations have been crisply detailed in handmade Danish brick, which contrasts with and complements original stone walls. Protruding barrel-vaulted zinc roofs provide a dynamic roofline, evoking silhouettes of the Abbey and hinting at the drama within.  The new Harley Gallery is accessed via a courtyard on the Welbeck Estate, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow Visitors arrive via a courtyard, which the new gallery shares with The Harley Gallery, The Harley Café and Welbeck Farm Shop. A glazed entrance pavilion provides a light and airy threshold with clear views on to a line of trees and a 19th century lodge, now offices. Within the entry pavilion, the original stone walls of the Gallop have been exposed to view. A limestone-clad reception desk sits in front of three full height windows with views to a mature landscape to the north. Top-lit stairs treated with contemporary white walls lead down to other facilities including public toilets, staff areas and lockers contained within a basement.  The Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate , Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow The Portland Collection has been assembled by the Cavendish-Bentinck family, who have lived at Welbeck for over 400 years. The new gallery is part of The Harley Foundation, which was set up in 1977 by the late Duchess of Portland to encourage creativity and to support the visual arts.  The Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate,Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow The galleries have been designed as a place of delight and surprise, reflecting the historic architecture of the Welbeck Estate through their materiality, changing scales, colour and texture. The architectural concept creates a structure for John Ronayne’s exhibition design and allows placement of The Portland Collection at centre stage, whilst also celebrating light, space and volume.  The Long Gallery in the the Harley Gallery, Welbeck , Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow The first gallery that visitors enter is the 22m Long Gallery with a cycloidal fibrous plaster ceiling set under a barrel vault roof, seemingly cut in half by a full length translucent rooflight, filling the space with diffuse light and creating the perfect environment to display oil-painted portraits. At the far end a doorway leads to a vitrine of gold and silver, creating an alluring termination to views. From this enclosed space visitors emerge into a larger, more flexible Treasury Gallery, which is sub-divided into three zones. Two areas are lit by north lights and one features low ceilings and controlled lighting for the display of miniatures and light sensitive objects.  The entrance of the Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow The inaugural displays will include miniature portraits selected by Sir Peter Blake, showing 20 March to 18 September 2016. Hugh Broughton, Director Hugh Broughton Architects said: “Welbeck has an extraordinary architectural heritage and we are honoured to have been given the opportunity to add to this with the new gallery for The Portland Collection. The building is the product of an extraordinarily creative collaboration with our client, William Parente, and reflects our mutual interests in combining light, volume, colour and texture to produce architecture which is contextual, enduring and engaging for visitors.”  View from the Treasury Gallery into the Long Gallery, The Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow William Parente, grandson of the 7th Duke of Portland, said: “Hugh Broughton, who many people will know for his extraordinary sci-fi British Antarctic Survey station (it ‘walks’ over a moving glacier as required) has managed to combine that visionary enterprise with a close study of existing buildings at Welbeck. So the toplit Long Gallery recalls some of the 5th Duke’s underground spaces, while the entrance pavilion marries the lightness of glass and steel to the brute power of the original 19th century walls. And his use of handmade bricks is entirely in keeping with the artisan traditions of Welbeck and The Harley Foundation, while he has followed Welbeck’s emphasis on sustainability with a sophisticated climate control system based around air source energy. Hugh has created a beautiful and functional building, and it has been great fun working with him.”  The Treasury Gallery, The Harley Gallery, Welbeck , Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow About Hugh Broughton Architects Hugh Broughton Architects was formed in 1996 and has a reputation for producing carefully crafted contemporary architecture. The practice has designed projects for many high profile clients including the British Council, Institution of Structural Engineers, National Galleries of Scotland, Royal Society of Chemistry and the TUC. The practice is best known for the design of Maidstone Museum East Wing, which completed in 2012 and received an RIBA Downland Award, three AJ Retrofit awards and a Civic Trust Commendation; and Halley VI Antarctic Research Station designed for the British Antarctic Survey, which was officially launched in 2013 and has received fifteen international awards to date. It is an extraordinary project which has led to numerous other international polar commissions and is the subject of a new building monograph published by Park Books in 2015. The practice’s redevelopment of the Henry Moore Foundation, in Perry Green, Hertfordshire will complete in 2016. The restoration of the Painted Hall for the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich and dramatic new interpretation and visitor facilities at Clifford’s Tower in York for English Heritage are also currently in development.  The entrance to The Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow  The entrance to The Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow  The Long Gallery, The Harley Gallery, Welbeck Estate, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow  Top-lit stairs treated with contemporary white walls lead down to public toilets, staff areas and lockers at basement level. The dislay image is a photograph of the original Tan Gallop showing it in its former use as a space for training horses, Image Courtesy © Hufton+Crow
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Tags: England, Nottinghamshire Category: Gallery |
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