Yorkshire Sculpture Park opens visitor centre designed by Feilden Fowles

Those passing the Yorkshire Sculpture Park on the six-lane M11 might notice a new figure amongst the rolling hills and open pastures. Nestled squat into the landscape like a hobbit’s fortress is the spectacularly spritely new £3.4m visitor centre by London-based architecture practice Feilden Fowles, opening to the public on 30 March.
Occupying the site of a former quarry straddling the motorway on the eastern threshold of the 500-acre sculpture park, the Weston – so named for a generous donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation – has grown out of embracing the challenges inherent to its particular geography rather than fighting against them. ‘There was a terrible storm on my first visit, and I took shelter in the old quarry,’ recalls Fergus Feilden. ‘We wanted the gallery to offer that same sense of shelter.’
A new gallery, restaurant, public foyer and shop fit spaciously within its 660sq m expanse that curves slightly to embrace the landscape. Drawing on the work of 20th century land artists like Robert Morris, as well as the sculpture park’s own history – including the James Turrell Skyspace occupying an old deer shelter on the grounds and the Underground Gallery completed in 2006 by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios – it is a sanctuary from the noisy road and offers new vistas from above the parkland.
Approaching the gallery from the grassland below, the building is blanketed by nature. Scattered chunks of limestone salvaged from the old quarry during construction frame the winding path leading to the Weston’s entrance. Nimble-footed visitors can scale the grassy hill embracing the building’s east side and descend a semicircle of rocks to meet the tall galley doors.
Wildflowers poke their sunny heads over the gallery’s concrete rooftop, its sawtooth lights guarded by a translucent gill-like plastic panels. The glass-reinforced gills enable enchanting shadowplay, although their painstakingly white-dyed concrete is unfortunately kept out of sight.
From the outside, the Weston appears like a millennia-old sedimentary rock. Its walls are made from bands of cast concrete: the result of a meticulous process of modulating the size and color of aggregate, retardant ratios and jet wash finish. ‘We wanted everything to look uncontrolled, but that took a lot of control,’ grins Feilden.
The aggregate—a combination of granite, limestone, and sandstone—was collected from nearby quarries and kept at a far larger diameter than average, giving the exterior an earthy elegance complemented by the subtle coloration of aggregate. ‘Here at Yorkshire, we often talk about layers of history,’ explains Clare Lilley, director of programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ‘Three-hundred-and-fifty million years of limestone has become a new gallery.’
Light streams into the gallery from each sawtooth light’s bullnose underbelly, the bulbous concrete forms dropping down from the ceiling to sniff out the new space, which will soon be transformed into a cozy wrestling ring for the inaugural exhibition by Indian artists Thukral and Tagra.
Working with environmental architects Skelly and Couch, the Weston’s gallery utilizes a 10,000 unfired brick labyrinth as a natural humidifier—a radical technology among the first of its kind in the UK. The labyrinth keeps the gallery at 50 per cent humidity and 15-25 degrees celsius (as opposed to the standard 18-20 degrees) and has been signed off by the British Standards Institute’s conservation requirement for museums and galleries.
A timber-glazed frame of douglas fir allows light to stream into the new restaurant, which curves ever so slightly to the building’s sunken southwest end. Lime plaster walls and mixed concrete flooring keep a careful balance of beauty and ease.
Just outdoors, a small garden of local alpine species and hardy succulents takes its cues from species first discovered by the Yorkshire botanist Reginald Farrer in the 19th century. Looking out over the mind boggling expanse of the Park, the Weston visitor centre will behave as a magnet to this oft-untrodden area of the park. The building exudes a clear sense of purpose and a zen-like complacency with its surrounds. Its subtle tricks carry a slight aura of mischief that will no doubt be amplified when a certain decadent and controversial British artist will unveil two new bronze sculptures in the summer.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park website and the Feilden Fowles website
ADDRESS
The Weston at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
West Bretton
Wakefield
WF4 4LG
UK
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
MoMA names Christophe Cherix its new director
The Swiss-born curator has worked in the Museum of Modern Art’s drawings and prints department since 2007
By Anna Fixsen Published
-
The Yale Center for British Art, Louis Kahn’s final project, glows anew after a two-year closure
After years of restoration, a modernist jewel and a treasure trove of British artwork can be seen in a whole new light
By Anna Fixsen Published
-
How Le Corbusier defined modernism
Le Corbusier was not only one of 20th-century architecture's leading figures but also a defining father of modernism, as well as a polarising figure; here, we explore the life and work of an architect who was influential far beyond his field and time
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Are Derwent London's new lounges the future of workspace?
Property developer Derwent London’s new lounges – created for tenants of its offices – work harder to promote community and connection for their users
By Emily Wright Published
-
Showing off its gargoyles and curves, The Gradel Quadrangles opens in Oxford
The Gradel Quadrangles, designed by David Kohn Architects, brings a touch of playfulness to Oxford through a modern interpretation of historical architecture
By Shawn Adams Published
-
A Norfolk bungalow has been transformed through a deft sculptural remodelling
North Sea East Wood is the radical overhaul of a Norfolk bungalow, designed to open up the property to sea and garden views
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A new concrete extension opens up this Stoke Newington house to its garden
Architects Bindloss Dawes' concrete extension has brought a considered material palette to this elegant Victorian family house
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A former garage is transformed into a compact but multifunctional space
A multifunctional, compact house by Francesco Pierazzi is created through a unique spatial arrangement in the heart of the Surrey countryside
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A 1960s North London townhouse deftly makes the transition to the 21st Century
Thanks to a sensitive redesign by Studio Hagen Hall, this midcentury gem in Hampstead is now a sustainable powerhouse.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Manchester United and Foster + Partners to build a new stadium: ‘Arguably the largest public space in the world’
The football club will spend £2 billion on the ambitious project, which co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has described as the ‘world's greatest football stadium’
By Anna Solomon Published
-
'Bold and unapologetic', this contemporary Wimbledon home replaces a 1970s house on site
This grey-brick Wimbledon home by McLaren Excell is a pairing of brick and concrete, designed to be mysterious
By Tianna Williams Published