David McCallum: June 2008

Street-side facade of gallery

Main Facade

The facade of the gallery echoes its 'minimalist' origins, but also deals with the idea of the barrier between 'private' and 'public', that threads throughout the entire building. Situated on the outside of the southern bend on King Street, the building is highly visible from along the street in either direction. As a public statement it stands to become an icon of the King Street culture, and the surrounding urban locale, but manages to retain its sense of privacy - even 'exclusivity' - which would be considered decorous for an art gallery doubling as a shop and a location for exhibitions and art functions.

It advertises itself strongly but gives nothing away, and while it stands out from the surrounding structures it also fits in with the program of the area; in its height, width and the general form of a public facade fronting onto the street, flanked by blank terrace-like elevations lacking any openings.

Display window

The display window treats whatever, ideally singular, piece of art placed inside it as 'precious'. It is small enough in context of the entire facade to refrain from being the main focal point of the building, vocalising the idea that the commerce of dealing art is not the driving force in this scenario. However, it is large enough (3.8m tall, 4m wide, 2.9m deep) to ensure that the commercial aspect of the gallery is not misunderstood entirely by the public. Placing the gallery's name unobtrusively on the glass of the window allows for the avoidance of any unnecessary 'contamination' of the facade itself, and continues the idea of the gallery's 'muted' self-portrayal.

King Street entry to The Laneway

The dedication of a 3m wide strip of the site to a public thoroughfare allows an integration of the area's social context. The vibrant street art culture of the area is embraced here by the blank canvas of the gallery's wall, continuing the gallery from the more private sector inside, to a public display outside. The commercial motif of displaying the name of your business on the side of your building in paint, a form of street art in itself, is picked up here with the name of the gallery again displayed though, like the display window, fairly unobtrusively.

Ideally the laneway cuts across the main junction to connect Enmore Road with King Street, would be used frequently, and may foster and increasing 'courtyard culture' within the blocks of buildings, off the main streets.

Proportions of the entry hall + upper window

The privacy of the gallery continues throughout with the motif of 'the turn' and 'the stair', often in conjunction. Using these simple gestures the boundary between private and public spaces is defined, but not stated in an obtuse or obvious visual manner. The motif of proportionate openings throughout the buildings is here introduced.

Rear view of gallery

Interior of entire gallery space, through to Workshop

The mood and diffuse nature of the lighting in the gallery space can be clearly seen here, looking up the stepped floor from the courtyard.

Gallery overview

Private Courtyard area

Private Courtyard to Private Landing

The upper courtyard allows for more personal functions and serves, with the landing area at the head of the stairs, as a buffer zone between the more public areas and the private living quarters of the apartment. The poured concrete of the courtyard continues past the concertina doors into the interior space, before reaching the more fluid wood flooring, oriented to act as a 'hallway' and passage into the apartment spaces. This integrates the exterior and interior areas, and allows for the doors to be opened wide to 'extend' the courtyard into the building. As a culturally very 'Sydney' feature, this also allows circulation of cool air to enter throughout the building.

Section through Gallery Space

The 'stepped' nature of the gallery denotes a sense of movement through the spaces, heightened by the wood flooring as a fluid entity that progresses towards the courtyard space. The steps also create a particular sense of division between the three gallery areas, allowing for three distinct rooms, or separate segments within a single room.

Progression of steps, and the gallery's lighting

Detail of Gallery Roofing

The two layers of translucent material filter the light down into the gallery, and create an even wash of diffuse lighting. The lower layer sits flush with the ceiling, maintaining the integrity of the minimal architectural forms throughout and ensuring that no convoluted joints between the walls, ceiling and roof material draw the eye away from the artworks on display. The upper layer sits angled to face the northerly direction of the sun and increase the refraction of light into the gallery, while also allowing for runoff.

Section through Gallery Space

The three openings from the lobby into the gallery space are without doors, a visual hint for those entering the building as to the progression of spaces. While allowing for visual connection and physical movement, the 80cm wide strip openings maintain the architectural general form of the building, while also ensuring that the architecture unobtrusively 'disappears' from around the artworks.

View from Landing along Apartment Hallway

The 'turn' in the axis of movement from the landing onto the hallway that connects all the living spaces in the apartment visually denotes the definition between the private areas and the rest of the gallery spaces.

Section through Living Quarters

The curve of the roof over the private apartment is not visible from the primary approach of King Street, and does not interfere at all with the geometric form the the visible exterior. Having entered the more personal spaces of the upper floor, the ceiling height lowers so as to draw the gallery owner into the more 'cocooned' space of the apartment. The more human-scaled areas relate more closely then to the user. The roof rises again over the living room space, to maximise the amount of natural sunlight being brought through the translucent material that makes up the northern wall - the material allowing access to light but not a visual connection to the outside, thus protecting the privacy of the owner from the public space of the sculpture courtyard below; a feature repeated in the bedroom, and on the floor below with the office space.

Bedroom area above Stockroom

The roof height again lowers over the bedroom to quite a personal height, allowing for a more intimate space. A void connects the gallery owner's bedroom with the stockroom and the stored artworks below, and creates a 'loft-like' atmosphere to the space. The glazed roofing over the bedroom allows access to direct natural light, and illuminates the stockrooms below.

Section along Property Boundary

View along Apartment Hallway

A strip of glazing in the roofing along the hallway allows for vertical light to illuminate the living spaces. A thin void along the hallway between the two floors, hemmed by a bannister that is a continuation of the walls in form, allows this light to filter down into the 'lobby' of the gallery, and emphasises the verticality between the floors.

View along Apartment Hallway

The 'public' toilet on the lower floor is situated below the private bathroom of the apartment, allowing integration of plumbing. So as not to obtusely obstruct the floor plan of the gallery 'lobby' and office spaces, the toilet is set back from the wall, visually denoting it as a separate element in a larger space. This allows the progression to the more 'private' display/dealing areas in the office and stockroom to 'turn' around the form of the toilet and raise over a couple of steps, both features denoting the visual demarcation of a 'private' space.

Gallery 'Lobby' and Stairs

The idea the 'turn' - here away from the direction of entry - and the 'stairs' are here employed to subtly denote the private spaces beyond the stairway. This 'turn' is also used in entering the Workshop down a long narrow hallway across the main entry hallway from the stairway. The private nature of the stairway is enhanced by it's steepness, and the its narrowness. Movement up this stairway then 'turns' onto the landing, while the upper window on the main facade serves as a focal point for movement up the stairs to the landing.