Emalin

This contemporary art gallery lies opposite Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor’s St Luke’s Old Street church (1733). The site originally contained three dilapidated commercial buildings from the mid-1940s. The project unifies the three structures forming an appropriate context for the church, while reusing qualities of the existing buildings for the display of contemporary art.

The principal elevation consists of a three-metre glazed entry door and six blind steel-framed windows. The proportion and rhythm of the new windows is adapted from the original pattern of openings along the facade and modestly reflects the cast iron windows of St Luke’s opposite. Existing brickwork and lintels have been repaired where necessary and some recent openings in the facade closed-in.

The aim of the project is to form a new architectural identity that contributes positively to St Luke’s. It is neither explicitly modern nor overly beholden to the past. The gallery was first developed for Stuart Shave/Modern Art and has recently become the new home of Emalin.