SCALA Civic Building of the Year Competition, 2006
Highly Commended
Durham County Council Visual Arts Centre
This development provides new accommodation for the art department. Comprising art rooms, exhibition and other ancillary spaces, it offered the opportunity to enhance the image of the entire school. its positioning creates an exciting external courtyard that funnels people in towards the main entrance. This space, moreover, is illuminated at night due to the amount of glazing on the front elevation.
The building plan is wholly dictated by the site. It occupies the site of previous demountable classrooms and follows the curvature of the access road, retaining and respecting the mature trees to the north.
It has a simple monopitch roof, the higher side of which faces the existing school and is comparable in height to the parapet of the Victorian façade. This roof then slopes down to the rear towards tennis courts, which are at a considerably lower level.
Being a totally detached building, modern materials, such as steel and structural glazing, are juxtaposed with traditional references such as the ribbed roof, rendered walls and terracotta cladding.
- Architect:
- Niven Architects
- Quantity Surveyor:
- Durham County Council
- Mechanical and Electrical Engineer:
- White Young Green
- Structural Engineer:
- Billinghurst George
- Main Contractor:
- MMP Construction
