Arts & Civic

Graves Art Gallery & Central Library

Sheffield, South Yorkshire

The practice carried out a masterplan for the redevelopment of the Graves Art Gallery and Central Library in the centre of Sheffield.

The aim was to reconfigure the building to enlarge the gallery accommodation and make it more accessible to the public, as well as redeveloping the library and the community theatre, to suit modern requirements. The challenge was to make the building accessible, as it is located on a sloping site with very little space in front of the entrances, all of which are addressed by a steep flight of steps.

The building is close to the Millennium Galleries and Winter Garden, and one of the objectives was to provide a common identity for both the Millennium Galleries and The Graves Art Gallery, to create an identifiable arts quarter in the city centre, linked to nearby theatres and the Winter Garden.

The masterplan was explored through a series of option studies, which covered all possible approaches from a relatively simple refurbishment to large-scale redevelopment and extension.