PENSON Group has announced the completion of Peckham Space, a new public venue for artistic driven events and exhibitions, placed under the famous Peckham Arch entrance to Peckham Square.
A scheme originally by Alsop proved too costly, as such PENSON were appointed by a collaboration of The University of the Arts London, The Arts Council and Southwark Council to create a completely different scheme with a smaller budget. That said PENSON’s results are far from being watered down.
Natalie Brett, Dead on Camberwell College of Arts, said: “It’s great to see Peckham Space open, a new art venue that will help put Peckham on the map with their programme of location-specific projects connecting art, people and place through creative experience.”
Cllr Tayo Situ, Mayor of Southwark and Chair of the Peckham Community Council, said: “I am delighted to see this has become a reality for the good, not only for Peckham residents but also for the wider Southwark community. This is a fantastic project that will benefit experienced and young artists and I congratulate the Camberwell College of Arts and all partners involved in this scheme. I look very much forward to enjoying their masterpiece with them.”
PENSON Group’s well co-ordinated services covering high profile Architecture, Structural Engineering and M&E design, has enabled a highly-strung, highly-sustainable timber framed structure, which is sprayed internally and externally with a water based coating to form a single sculptural form.
PENSON Group’s CEO Lee Penson sums up: “Peckham Space for us is something that comes from my roots of dynamic, linear forms from my student days. It’s a combined solution which absorbs many physical, logistical and planning problems which lets face it would normally make you walk away when seen with the available budget. That said we never give up.
We decided that a simple cross section made from the simplest of timber structures would work best and be the only affordable option. The drama and dynamics come from the way we have finished the simple cross section at the Peckham High Street and Peckham Square ends. Carefully designed cantilevers, edges, shapes and angles all form a very photogenic form which to a degree seems to have landed from outer space, but, it also fits and integrates exceptionally well.
Structurally the building uses footings that were left from bomb damaged buildings and the construction of Peckham’s arch. This was saving number 1. Number 2 was the timber frame. Number 3 was a short but sharp process of optimising the visual dramas with the timber’s structural parameters. Surprisingly we realised more with the timber frame than we expected and is something that we are developing further on some other schemes.”
The external finish is green certified marine ply, filled, faired and sprayed with five layers of water-based coatings. This provides a monolithic sculptural building. It is easily patch repaired and incredibly economical in contrast to expensive cladding systems, which are easily dented and hard to repair. Every five years Peckham Space is budgeted to be quickly re-sprayed, providing a brand new refreshed building with a new brand, whereas if we’d used a cladding system, this may not have been an option.
The dynamic, sculptural form of Peckham Space comes alive at night with some cleverly positioned light fittings. PENSON were not allowed to use too many due to costs and sustainability.
Internally the gallery is no less dynamic. The space is slightly angular, with a distortion that is subtle enough to create an interesting canvas that works for free floating, wall mounted or video type exhibitions.
The triangulated pattern of bespoke, perforated steel grills deliver an even mist of gentle air cooling to the gallery. Fitted flush into the slope of the gallery ceiling they were creatively designed to conceal the sealed plenum, air conditioning units and ductwork above without the need for nominal grilles that we see day in day out. This is a system that PENSON are scaling up and developing for much larger public commissions coming soon.
One function and practical problem that has been very intelligently detailed by PENSON, is the fact that all sections of glass that are opened by day, become covered by night with fully concealed roller shutters and sliding door panels.
Peckham Space is an amazing achievement of public, green, clever architecture and structural design which, for just 330k including vat and fees, is something that probably only PENSON know how to repeat.
