The programme for this international competition called for a new building to be linked to the Wilkin's building by a bridge over a public footpath. The top floor of this new building is to form an extension of the existing galleries, while the lower floors are to contain an entrance foyer, bookshop, changing exhibition space, restaurant, lecture theatre and trustees' offices as well as loading bay and storage.

In our solution, the new structure is treated both as an extension and as a building in its own right, approximating to an urban typology exemplified by the many clubs in the vicinity.

The plan is organised symmetrically about a grand staircase leading from the entrance foyer to gallery level in a straight flight. An inflection of the proposed façade towards the south-east was avoided as compromising the self-sufficiency of the Wilkin's façade and weakening the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square.

The area created between the new building, the side elevation of the main building, and the new linking gallery is treated as a continuous surface, to create a positive figural space, between the new and existing building.

Credits and Exhibitions

• Limited International competition Entry 1985
• Project Exhibited at 9H Gallery 1985

(design : Colquhoun + Miller)