South London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery is to get a bit larger after it secured planning permission for a new building and to open up a closed field next to the site.
The gallery is going to be building a new Children’s Gallery, in a stand-alone building to one side of the main gallery, which it says is needed to expand its already full capacity children’s classes. The new freestanding building will have the capacity for a standard school class of 30 children, and will sit next to the old cottage building, which they plan to refurbish into a school lunch room for children visiting the gallery.
CGI render of the new building – source Dulwich Picture Gallery / Carmody Groarke
The Dulwich Picture Gallery sits in a large garden space, but less well known is that they also own a sealed-off field next to the garden as well. That will be opened up and landscaped, but before that happens, they will drill a number of boreholes into the ground to provide a new ground source heat pump network for the gallery.
Once that’s installed, the renamed Lovington Meadow will be laid out as a new ‘art forest’ of over 120 new trees. A new land art form, designed by landscape artist Kim Wilkie, will surround a changing outdoor exhibition space.
Layout showing new children’s gallery and meadow – source: Southwark planning document
Construction is set to start in winter 2023 with the aim for all elements to be completed by early 2025. The gallery will remain open throughout. With anticipated costs of £4.6 million, the Gallery is now fundraising to support its plans, with applications to trusts and foundations currently in process.
Dulwich picture gallery proposal- considering the exciting temporary pavilions they’ve erected before this is startlingly dull!
Looks like a monster package that’s just arrived from Amazon and been left on the floor after being opened.