Blank canvas: HAT Projects rejuvenates London's Gasworks gallery and studios
HAT Projects unveils its renovation of Gasworks, a 26-year-old international gallery and subsidised artist studios in Vauxhall, London

Based in an old Victorian warehouse building in London's Vauxhall, Gasworks – a pioneering arts organisation and gallery – has been providing affordable studio space for local artists and residency programmes for international practitioners since its inception in 1994. The artist-led studios have steadfastly remained operational despite rapidly rising rents and rampant development in the surrounding area. So three years ago, when the building came up for sale, the organisation knew it was under massive threat.
Determined to secure its future, Gasworks applied for £1 million in funding from the Arts Council in order to buy the building's freehold (at £1.1 million), but more was capital needed for its much-needed rejuvenation. Donations from patrons, philanthropists, trusts and foundations flooded in while Gasworks alumni, such as Turner prize winner Chris Ofili contributed signature works for a charity auction at Christie's. 'They recognised the value that Gasworks had for them at the beginning of their career,' says Alessio Antoniolli of their generous donations, 'and they realised it was fundamental to secure space that provided that opportunity for artists to get their foot on the ladder.'
After raising the funds and securing the site, Gasworks enlisted architects HAT Projects to redesign the site.'After 18–19 years of being based here, we were very very clear in what we wanted the building to do,' says Antoniolli. 'We knew what it was here to do. We'd lived with it and we had ideas about changes.'
Building works started in February of this year and were completed earlier this month. The result is a clean, simple and serene design that has tidied the building's improvised layout but preserved original features where possible. Laid out across three floors, HAT's spatial adjustments have doubled the size of the exhibition spaces, providing a purpose-built education and events area, increasing the proportion of existing studios while also creating two new ones, a kitchen and dining space, all without extending the building or making any major structural change.
'It leaked, it had completely inadequate heating, no insulation of any sort, no double glazing and large buddleia bushes growing out of the back wall,' says Hana Loftus, director of HAT Projects. 'It's been a complete transformation.'
'The budget was pretty challenging because the building needed so much stabilisation, but actually that was nice because you're not tempted to overstep that mark between restraint and elaboration and create a space that is calm, is cool and really simple.'
Functioning like a blank canvas, the all-white, light-filled space fades into the background, letting the art, activities and interactions within the building take centre stage. Loftus concludes, 'It's so lovely to see work being made here, people occupying the space, enjoying themselves and starting to have conversations about art.'
Reopening today, Gasworks' redeveloped gallery space will play host to the first UK solo exhibition by emerging South African artist Kemang Wa Lehulere...
Housed in an old Victorian warehouse building in Vauxhall, the former gallery and studios had, over time, been developed in an ad-hoc fashion, resulting in an improvised layout and impractical working spaces. 'It leaked, it had completely inadequate heating, no insulation of any sort, no double glazing and large buddleia bushes growing out of the back wall,' says Hana Loftus, director of HAT Projects
Laid out across three floors, HAT's spatial adjustments have doubled the size of the exhibition spaces, providing a purpose-built education and events area, increasing the proportion of existing studios while also creating two new ones, a kitchen and dining space, all without extending the building or making any major structural change
Reopening today, Gasworks' redeveloped gallery space will play host to the first UK solo exhibition by emerging South African artist Kemang Wa Lehulere. Pictured: studio of Jonathan Murphy
INFORMATION
’Kemang Wa Lehulere: Sincerely Yours’ is on view until 8 November
Photography: Ioana Marinescu, courtesy of Gasworks
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
ADDRESS
Gasworks
155 Vauxhall Street
London SE11 5RH
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 shows
The Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to know
Designing the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate Modern
The 42-panel quilt, which commemorates those affected by HIV and AIDS, will be displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in June 2025
-
Meet the Turner Prize 2025 shortlisted artists
Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa are in the running for the Turner Prize 2025 – here they are with their work
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuit
Ella Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyers
An exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experience
In ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate Britain
In his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desire
In a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next year
Tate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo