DAVID ZWIRNER LONDON

24 Grafton Street, London W1

Contemporary art gallery building of six floors in Mayfair. Rebuilt street façade, gallery spaces over three levels, new build skylight viewing room and library, entertainment suite, office and technical spaces.

Originally a house built in 1789 and later a residence of the Marquis of Salisbury before Helena Rubinstein opened her first Salon de Beauté in 1926. Rubinstein commissioned the first work of International Modernism in Britain, here, from Erno Goldfinger. Goldfinger’s exquisite salon was long lost when we undertook the base building reconstruction and refurbishment for the freeholder.

Introduction to David Zwirner and Annabelle Selldorf led to our collaboration with Selldorf Architects to deliver the gallery spaces.

The Hay Hill frontage is relieved of squat 1980’s proportions. Opening heights are increased for greater daylight and art access. Structure and core are rationalised and ventilation and lighting subtly subordinated to the spaces and the art. The minimally detailed interiors form a sequence of spaces. Floors are of oak and limestone. The stair is a spiral volume that rises to the skylight.