

Contemporary art centre with three ambiences
The contemporary art centre will consist of three sections, each with their own ambience: a warm, appealing entry area in the old pump-house; a stimulating and rugged exhibition space in the circular reservoir; and a light, transparent restaurant pavilion where guests can enjoy the park views. The design respects and reinstates the building’s existing historic qualities, rendering it suitable as an art centre by the addition of two sophisticated new elements, constructed from biologically and domestically sourced plywood.


Two sophisticated, biologically sourced multiplex elements to transform the heritage building into an art centre
The first plywood element, comprising the entrance and bookshop, will be built inside the existing pump-house, constructed separately from the original building itself to preserve its heritage. Visitors will enter at the ground-floor, and take the stairwell either down to the exhibition space in the underground reservoir, or up to the restaurant pavilion on the earth bank. Extra seating for the restaurant is provided under the pump-house’s beautiful, atmospheric beams.The second plywood element, located above the earth bank, is the restaurant pavilion, comprising nothing more than four wooden beams, natural insulating material, and glass down to ground level. The pavilion and the pump-house are to be connected by a glass strip, enabling the structural elements to be isolated from each other. The combined indoors/outdoors feeling is optimised through extensive transparency and refinement in the detailing. A green roof sown with plants that give scent and colour throughout the year will contribute to the park’s biodiversity. The rugged ambience in the underground reservoir is very suited to the theme of RADIUS. Consequently, the walls, with their remarkable chalk traces, will be preserved, and breached in only a few places to enable a comfortable flow of visitors. As the earth around the reservoir serves as insulation and cooling for the complex, little extra building systems are necessary.