Oxford, UK: Modern Art Oxford is working with RIBA award-winning David Kohn Architects on a £1.2 million redesign of its ground and lower-ground floor spaces. The redesign will take place next summer when the gallery closes to the public, reopening in autumn 2024.
We are delighted to be working with RIBA award winning practice, David Kohn Architects to realise our vision for a major redesign of our ground floor public areas, celebrating the industrial heritage of our building and placing local communities at the heart of our programming and welcome. This transformational project includes enlarging and refurbishing our education space to accommodate our rapidly growing participation work, a new ground-floor gallery to showcase our work with artists and community groups in the city, an incredibly exciting new destination café designed by acclaimed artist Emma Hart, and a fantastic new retail and hospitality offer.
– Paul Hobson, Director of Modern Art Oxford
A New Welcome to the Building
A redesigned ground floor layout, including a new entrance to the main exhibition spaces, a welcome desk and shop, expanded learning spaces and an artist-designed café will vastly improve navigation, accessibility and environmental performance in the building.
A New Café Designed by Artist Emma Hart
The Modern Art Oxford café returns to the lower-ground floor and will be based on a celebratory concept created by British artist, Emma Hart. Club Together will celebrate raves and spaces where people come together for enjoyment and self-expression. Hart’s furniture in the café is inspired by dancing “hands in the air” which morph into seating, and tables that evoke disco lights throwing pools of coloured light onto the floor.
New Spaces for Learning and Participation: These include a new ground floor gallery and a specially designed creative learning studio, which will offer greater capacity for workshops and displays.
Improved Environmental Performance: The redesign will significantly improve the environmental performance of the building, helping the gallery reach a reduction in energy consumption, aligning Modern Art Oxford with a city-wide ambition to be carbon neutral by 2040.
Celebrating Oxford’s Heritage and Diverse Communities: Modern Art Oxford is housed in a former brewery. It is one of the few publicly accessible old industrial spaces in the city and an important feature of Oxford’s conservation area. This project aims to reclaim and celebrate the heritage of the building and its distinctive features. The refurbishment has been co-designed with local stakeholders and users and
will place the city’s diverse communities at the heart of the building.
We are absolutely delighted to be working with Paul Hobson and his fantastic team at Modern Art Oxford on the next stage in their building’s journey. This will see greater accessibility, improved environmental performance and a focus on space for education. The project builds on our work with arts institutions that are looking to better provide for their communities and reach new audiences.
David Kohn
About
David Kohn Architects is a London-based practice established in 2007, working internationally on arts,
education and residential projects. Recent projects include Stephen Friedman’s Cork Street Gallery, the
V&A Photography Centre and exhibitions at Kettle’s Yard, Royal Academy and MIMA. The practice is
also completing a new quad in Oxford for New College in 2024
Located in one of the world’s great cities of learning, Modern Art Oxford is a leading contemporary art
space with an international reputation for innovative and ambitious programming. We promote creativity in all its visual forms as an agent of social change. Our programmes, both in person and online, are shaped by a belief in dialogue between contemporary art and ideas and celebrate the relevance of contemporary visual culture to society today. modernartoxford.org.uk
