April 4 2023

The National Galleries of Scotland has shared its plans for an 11,000sq/m Passivhaus storage, conservation and research facility at Granton Park Avenue, Edinburgh.

The Art Works (TAW) by John McAslan + Partners is designed to improve access to the collection by providing publically accessible viewing rooms, study spaces and a community studio as well as a café.

Establishing a ‘cultural landscape’ on the post-industrial site the works will include an active travel route connecting to Waterfront Broadway as part of efforts to ensure the collection is ‘experienced’ not locked away.

Stretching to the equivalent of two playing fields the sprawling site will present its public face to Waterfront Avenue, connecting to existing museum storage buildings to the southwest and the B-listed Madelvic car factory.

Describing their design proposal the architects wrote: “We have conceived the Art Works as a new type of cultural collections archive facility - a vibrant new urban environment in which structured and unstructured juxtapositions of people and art mingle.

“TAW holds the edge of the site with an engaging frontage full of life and activity to its western plaza. Equally important, is the fact that it strategically connects the main pedestrian spine through to the west with the Madelvic Factory – an important piece of history, and a Internally, along its street, the Art Works brings together visitors, artists, academics, curators, conservators – a marketplace for new creative collisions.”

Comprising aluminium curtain walling and rainscreen cladding the functional buildings are to be enlivened by temporary artwork installed at key areas such as the main entrance, as well as the projection of digitised art.

8 Comments

#1 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 4 Apr 2023 at 13:43 PM

Why does this facility have to be in Auld Reekie?

Surely the public sector wealth should be spread around Scotland and not concentrated in the area where Holyrood has its home?

Not good.

#2 Posted by Jimbob Tanktop on 4 Apr 2023 at 15:13 PM

Possibly because that's where most tourists go?

#3 Posted by alibi on 4 Apr 2023 at 16:25 PM

#1 Edinburgh is where most (or all?) of the associated galleries are located. Its location is dictated by that, I think.

#4 Posted by Ask The Structural Engineer on 5 Apr 2023 at 07:49 AM

Because the storage facility for the National Galleries is immediately behind this plot in Granton (and has been for many years) and they own the land already. But this gallery will still only be able to show a fragment of the artworks kept in storage and more spaces of this kind would be great around the country

#5 Posted by Peter on 5 Apr 2023 at 09:37 AM

Is it just me, or using Google Maps for commercial visualizations should be banned? The quality of these are going down the drain rapidly.

#6 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 5 Apr 2023 at 10:23 AM

Scotland is rapidly becoming the City State of Auld Reekie with a 30K square mile estate wildlife reserve attached.

Westminster style hyper centralisation is never a good look and we now have it in spades.

Devolution vs Regionalisation -- I think the 70's are winning this hands down.

#7 Posted by FHM on 10 Apr 2023 at 15:13 PM

"Scotland is rapidly becoming the City State of Auld Reekie with a 30K square mile estate wildlife reserve attached."

Ah #1 and #6 - classic FBoT misinformed quotes. I mean, the latter "point" is awfully inconsistent especially with The Burrell Collection refurbishment getting so much positive press recently, including on these pages.

#8 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 13 Apr 2023 at 18:54 PM

FHM @ #7

The Burrel Collection was a gift to the city from a successful son of Glesga.

The growing collection of National galleries is a tax payer funded entity that seemingly cannot survive outside the boundaries of Auld Reekie.

Once seemingly moribund and forgotten about -- the minute Glesga showed that museums / culture could generate a tourist dollar -- the Auld Reekie civil service / glee club got in on the act and spent loads of cash in our "National" institutions and making sure the cash never left the city.

This is just another chapter in this tawdry tale.

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