Contemporary Art Gallery in Newtown

Reflected sunlight glows throughout the interior of the building from the opposing, white washed wall on the south boundary of the site. A fully glazed two-storey wall faces a long, narrow courtyard, supported by deep, narrow steel columns and beams forming a classic rhythm down the length of the site.

A deep, glazed eave along this same length is unguttered, creating in wet weather a curtain of water to descend into a long and shallow reflecting rain-pool. In hot weather the rain curtain can be emulated with a reticulating pump, providing natural cooling and a water sculpture that provides acoustic cloaking of the busy Newtown shopping precinct.

This building is a space of soft-lit soaring ceiling heights, maximising floor and wall surface for art and sculpture exhibits, woven around warmer more intimate spaces nestled within. It weaves the functions of private and public to maximise gallery space and also accommodate retail facilities and private refuge for the client.