Compton Verney Art Gallery

Status: 2004
Location: Compton Verney, Warwickshire

Client: Compton Verney House Trust
Value: £17.0m

 

"The transformation of Compton Verney serves to illustrate that good design and the re-use of the historic environment can be powerful regenerative tools and can have a very real impact on peoples lives”The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, commented on the award of the Civic Trust’s Culture and Regeneration Award

"Stanton Williams has an awesome reputation for attention to detail, the masterly use of materials and virtuoso approach to the use of natural light….Its work has helped create a code of practice (now virtually an orthodoxy) for new/old projects in Britain, which has dispatched the idea of ‘keeping in keeping’ to oblivion”Kenneth Powell, Architects Journal

 

Compton Verney’s Grade I listed mansion was rescued from English Heritage’s Building at Risk register and transformed into a major new arts venue.

The exterior of the building was restored. Rooms within the interior were refurbished where appropriate, and new ‘rooms within rooms’ were created where spaces were beyond repair. Display flexibility was maximised by building a new contemporary extension that, through its proportions and choice of materials, complements the existing mansion. The visitor experience and circulation were enhanced through careful planning of the flow of space between the three floors of galleries. Glass ramps, bridges and stairs were designed to link buildings and help capture the magical qualities of the light at Compton Verney.

In phase II a new education centre and offices were created set amongst restored historic out-buildings, linked to the mansion by a new underground walkway. Environmental engineering was integrated into the historic fabric of the building to provide galleries that can be environmentally controlled. Underfloor heating is provided by energy extraction from the lake via a heat exchange pump.

Compton Verney has won six awards and was voted ‘Excellence in England - Small Visitor Attraction of the Year 2006’.

 

Awards
2006 Excellence in England Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
2005 Civic Trust Award
2005 Civic Trust Special Award for Culture & Regeneration
2004 RIBA Award
2004 Finalist Royal Fine Arts Trust Building of the Year Award
2004 Highly commended in Europa Nostra Award
1998 Celebration of Excellence in Design Award, Stratford on Avon District Council
1997 Stone Federation Award

 

Credits
Conservation Architect: Rodney Melville & Partners
Cost Consultant: John Austin & Partners
Structural Engineers: Gifford
Services Engineers: AECOM
Landscape Consultant: Colvin and Moggridge
Main Contractor: Linford Building
Photography: Peter Cook, Brett Prestidge and Morley von Sternberg