Acknowledged to be ‘one of the most beautiful galleries in Britain’, Mostyn in North Wales was an existing listed Victorian museum with two lantern galleries tucked behind a listed facade. We were appointed by Mostyn after winning the Architectural competition with a design combining a gallery space refurbishment with a gallery expansion and a new dramatic infill section linking new and old.

The team worked extensively with the gallery organisation in developing the project around a number of guiding principles, which were then sequentially tested out and evolved through workshops with various consultation groups. These guiding principles included improvement of the community support and education facilities and the gallery were keen to improve their presence within the site context.

We focused on the galleries unique quality and the clear simplicity of the internal space progression, whilst improving the environmental conditions for visitors and staff. We evolved each additional space to have its own subtle character whilst continuing a balanced level of day light throughout using lantern and north light technical designs.

The dramatic board marked cast concrete forms an intermediate threshold between the gallery spaces and the entry social functions contained within the listed façade building. Its main function is to move people horizontally and vertically through the gallery. Movement is implied by allowing the form of the stair to break free from its orthogonal roots whilst projecting it upwards and across its volume towards a cafe.

The project has won a number of awards and increased footfall by over 60%.