London studio Carmody Groarke has employed timber and plastic to develop a short-term exhibition room for the White Cube artwork gallery in the grounds of a country home in East Sussex, England .

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

Constructed on a lawn among a lake and a restaurant, White Cube Glyndebourne will provide a dedicated artwork room for the duration of the yearly Glyndebourne Festival Opera for at least the following three years.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

Architects Kevin Carmody and Andy Groarke – who have worked on a string of temporary structures, from a rooftop restaurant to the pavilions that house the Frieze Artwork Honest – planned the asymmetric construction as a “building within a building”.

The aim was to offer each indoor and outside room, making a facility that is as considerably a summer pavilion as a gallery.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

“[It] forms a sturdy physical and visual connection between interior and landscape,” explained the duo.


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“The inner constructing contains a massive, singular gallery space made for exhibiting art, whilst the outer developing forms a sheltered terrace that extends the visual arts programme of the opera season outdoors.”

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

Following the patterns of their previous tasks, the architects picked materials they deemed suitable for a short-term framework – cross-laminated timber, plywood and clear polycarbonate plastic.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

The two woods give the principal structural framework, while the polycarbonate gives a see-via outer skin to the walls of the gallery and the surrounding terrace.

In accordance to Carmody Groarke, this provides the pavilion “an ethereal character that reflects the surrounding landscape and changes in external light across the day”.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

The terrace is accessed via an elevated pathway that negotiates the gentle level modify across the website. It is fronted by a series of simple balustrades, also developed from wood and polycarbonate.

“The terrace turns into an crucial social space supplying elevated views of the gardens and the rolling hills of the English countryside beyond,” said the architects.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

This year’s opera festival started on 21 Could and runs by means of to 30 August. White Cube Glyndebourne is hosting its inaugural exhibition, dedicated to the paintings of German artist Georg Baselitz, in tandem with the festival.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke Photograph by George Darrell

Unlike the rough-and-ready exterior, the interior of the 10 by eight-metre gallery is finished in monochrome tones far more reminiscent of the White Cube’s everlasting galleries in London’s Bermondsey and St James’s. Lighting is presented by florescent tubes that produce stripes across the angled ceiling.

White Cube was founded by British artwork dealer Jay Jopling in 1993, and specialises in modern art operates.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody Groarke

Photography is by Luke Hayes, apart from exactly where otherwise indicated.

Glyndebourne White Cube by Carmody GroarkeWeb site program Dezeen

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