South Kensington Estate is planning to redevelop 1-5 Cromwell Place, SW7, into a new gallery scheme dedicated to independent artists.
The landed estate is working with gallery owner and founder of art fair Art Dubai, John Martin, and the specialist gallery department of CWM, which will help source artists to deliver exhibitions at the scheme, known as Cromwell Place.
The five listed buildings, which once housed the studio and home of artist Sir John Lavery, will be redeveloped a 35,000 sq ft art hub.
It is being leased by a new company led by Martin and Scott Murdoch, founding partner of CWM, on a 25-year deal at around £70 per sq ft.
Space will be offered to independent galleries and artists on a membership basis, where they can take advantage of exhibition areas on a weekly, monthly, six-monthly or yearly basis. There will also be a restaurant and art shop.
The five buildings will provide galleries with a permanent office base, art storage, viewing rooms and the use of sixteen different exhibition spaces. The space will offer a complete, integrated solution for art businesses and substantial savings against the typical operational costs of a conventional gallery space.
Plans being designed by BuckleyGreyYeoman are expected to be submitted to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in early summer. If approved, works could be completed by 2018.
The site, in South Kensington’s historic arts community, neighbours cultural institutions including the Natural History Museum, V&A, Royal College of Art and the Royal Albert Hall.
The move has been prompted in part by soaring rents in Mayfair and St James’s, the traditional heartland for galleries, which can be as much as £240 per sq ft, according to Savills.
Murdoch said: “The Cromwell Place model allows galleries to operate more effectively and with vastly reduced operational costs. We are convinced that this hybrid approach to art dealing will open up a wealth of opportunities for established galleries.”
Sir Stuart Lipton, Lipton Rogers, who has been involved with Tate Bankside and the Royal Opera House, said the gallery will bring: “significant benefit to the capital, which will broaden London’s art world into an interesting new destination”.
“South Kensington is a place which is already steeped in so much cultural history with varied and interesting activities. The Cromwell Place gallery buildings would add to this incredibly rich environment, diversifying the area and encouraging new visitors.”
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