Gertrude Contemporary Art Gallery has been a drawcard on the fashionable Fitzroy shopping strip since the 1980s, well before the neighbourhood's gentrification.
Unable to stay in the same location, the art gallery was keen to put its feelers out to possible spaces nearby. SIBLING Architecture was commissioned to create a transition gallery/project space in nearby Glasshouse Road, where a former glassworks factory was donated by its benefactor owners for the gallery to use over a four-year period.
"They didn't want to replicate the gallery in Gertrude Street, but make the new space feel connected," says architect Nicholas Braun, a director of SIBLING Architecture, who worked closely with director architect Jane Caught.
"This gallery is an important institution in Melbourne. Almost every artist shown at the Venice Biennale has either exhibited or had a studio space here," adds Caught.
Before schematics were prepared for the new space in Glasshouse Road, SIBLING Architecture looked at how the Gertrude Street gallery operated. They noticed that with several exhibitions, patrons would spill onto the pavement.
"This gallery has a strong connection to the street. There's also always an art display or installation adjacent to the entrance that makes this gallery alive even when it's after hours," says Caught.
So when it came to renovating the new 100 square metre space in Collingwood, within a 1940s red brick warehouse, SIBLING Architecture was mindful of the cobbled laneway-style street as being paramount to their design.
The brief from both clients and artists who they interviewed also suggested a rectangular cube that would offer a degree of flexibility. "Our brief was to also include facilitating workshops as well as the ability to display sculpture as well and paintings," says Braun.
The former glass factory was virtually gutted in the renovation, with the original steel roller door replaced by a transitional space. Separated from the main gallery by steel and glass doors, this highly illuminated alcove features cleverly mirrored walls and ceiling, the latter inserted with LED lights.
"It's similar to a gridded art display box," says Braun, who took his cues partly from the gridded nearby streets. As with Gertrude Street gallery, this new space also features a display area to the street.
Although a fairly modest sized space, approximately 25 per cent of the floor area was given over to an office area, as well as a storage area for art. Bathroom facilities also encroached on the available display space.
Now, having natural light from both ends of the building and a high concrete-coffered ceiling makes the space feel considerably larger. And on warmer evenings, the doors at either end can be left open for cross-ventilation.
Unlike some other commercial fit-outs, natural light is paramount when designing spaces such as an art gallery. "We were fortunate to already have a glass door on the northern elevation. Having a secondary source of light [new front doors] makes the gallery feel that much lighter," says Caught, who was as mindful of the need to draw people into the gallery even though it's accessed from a narrow cobbled-lane street.
"The entry condition was critical in the design. As you get closer to it, it opens up and beckons you in," says Caught, who used a similar approach with the practice's award-winning Dust store in Russell Street, Melbourne.
"Dust was more of a sensory experience. Here, it's about creating a strong social experience and mediating both public and private areas," she adds.
