Gathering London

Gathering is a new 300 sqm contemporary art gallery occupying the ground and lower ground floors of an existing building in Soho. The existing building had been stripped-out and renovated, exposing the structural frame and revealing fragments of older walls and pipework. These existing elements have a strong architectural character.

From the beginning we were inspired by the ambition of Gathering to present a challenging and unusual program. The new gallery spaces draw on the qualities of the existing architecture and aim to create a setting which supports that ambition.

Swiss architect Jacques Herzog talks about the way that good settings for art consist of both ‘ideal’ gallery spaces and ‘non-ideal’ or found spaces, where the character of the space challenges the work and the viewer. Gathering consists of both ‘ideal’ and ‘non-ideal’ types of space.

The ground floor is more ‘ideal’. Carefully placed art walls define a set of overlapping spaces unified by a suspended technical plane of lighting apparatus. The existing shop-front windows are integrated into the layout to form two vitrines along Warwick Street, with particular attention where new gallery walls interface with the existing facade elements.

By contrast, the lower ground space is a 3.6 m high cavern defined by existing structure and services. This has been treated as a found space, adding necessary infrastructure, back-of-house areas and a long L-shaped art wall which emphasises the dimensions of the gallery.

The two floors are connected by a new steel stair threaded into the existing steel structure.

To limit embodied carbon, the existing concrete floors and ceilings are accepted as finished, providing a characterful and robust unifying surface throughout all the spaces. Operational energy is minimised through LED lighting. A simple loop of ventilation provides fresh air from the main facade to all the gallery spaces, with the lower ground space providing additional thermal stability.

Simeon Barclay, At Home Everywhere and Nowhere, 2023. Installation view at Gathering, London, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and Gathering. Photos Tom Carter.

Tai Shani, Your Arms Outstretched Above Your Head, Coding With The Angels, 2022. Installation view at Gathering, London, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist and Gathering. Photos Brotherton-Lock.