'An auction house essentially needs to fulfil two functions,' says Alex Lifschutz, 'It's got to be a warehouse. And it's got to be a theatre.' The architect should know, given his practice Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is responsible for the freshly unveiled £30 million revamp of Bonhams' London headquarters.
It's a little more complex than that, of course. The site at 101 New Bond Street could not have been so dramatically transformed from a 'rabbit warren' with extremely tight Mayfair planning constraints, into a vast, light and high-tech modern facility without some serious innovation. While the facade of the Grade II listed Art Deco building remains as familiar as ever, immediately on entering, the interior will be barely recognisable to anyone who used to know it.
The space, which comprises a stunning 18.5m high atrium, three large and fully flexible auction rooms - two of which are double height and all precisely air and temperature controlled - is designed specifically with clients and customer service in mind, says Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks. It also represents a major commitment by the company to London as a global centre of art. With Bonhams having experienced a highly successful decade - it is one of the fastest growing international auction houses in the world - it now plans to extend a similar treatment to its New York and Hong Kong outposts too.
'An auction house today has a very different set of requirements to those of the past,' says Lifschutz. As well as the required sense of theatre and the benefits of clever lighting schemes and smart acoustics, lot sizes have also grown significantly larger. Contemporary art, he explains, tends to be created to fill gallery spaces and is often huge in scale, requiring similarly enormous display rooms and extensive storage capability. Today, Bonhams finds itself putting many vintage supercars under the hammer too, hence the need for a dedicated hydraulically operated platform on which to showcase them.
The inaugural exhibition is a showcase of highlights from Bonhams' winter sales, including the multi-million pound 'Portrait of François-Henri, 5th duc d'Harcourt', by French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
While the facade of the Grade II listed Art Deco building remains as familiar as ever, the greatly overhauled interiors will be barely recognisable to anyone who used to know it
The space comprises a stunning 18.5m high atrium, three large and fully flexible auction rooms, all designed specifically with clients and customer service in mind
Two of the auction rooms are double height and all are air and temperature controlled
The new HQ also represents a major commitment by the company to London as a global centre of art
The opening exhibition is a showcase of highlights from Bonhams' winter sales, including the multi-million pound 'Portrait of François-Henri, 5th duc d'Harcourt' (far left), by French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard
ADDRESS
Bonhams
101 New Bond Street
London W1S 1SR
-
‘I’ve considered every single detail’: how Victoria Beckham designed the perfect make-up brush collectionVictoria Beckham speaks to Wallpaper* about the meticulous design process behind her debut collection of make-up brushes, which perfectly treads a line between form and function
-
Can Maserati modernise or is the sun setting on one of Italy’s most beloved automotive brands?Maserati’s GranTurismo Folgore is an epic electric grand tourer without equal. If only its traditionalist customers wanted it more
-
Viviane Sassen considers fine art, fashion photography and fragility in ItalyViviane Sassen’s exhibition, 'This Body Made of Stardus' at Collezione Maramotti, spans two decades off Sassen's career
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate ModernThe 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 artistsNnena 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’ pursuitElla 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 buyersAn 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 experienceIn ‘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 BritainIn 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 desireIn 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 yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
