Retrospective explores Jonathan Tuckey’s sensitive touch

‘How much can you change something?’ That is the question designer Jonathan Tuckey grapples with every time his multidisciplinary firm approaches a new architectural venture that requires a modern intervention to a historical setting. Drawing on this experience and showcasing his impressive body of work, Tuckey has just launched ‘Building on the Built’, a retrospective exhibition on the firm's growing portfolio.
Known for his context-sensitive touch, Tuckey is widely acclaimed for his knack for breathing new life to old, tired or historically sensitive properties. The exhibition, which was inspired by Joseph Gandy’s painting ‘1818 Public and Private Buildings Executed by Sir John Soane’, covers a wide array of the practice's projects through their models, regardless of scale or status.
Calling on the contrasting philosophies of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and John Ruskin, Tuckey approaches each renovation by applying a combination of their ideologies to his work. Viollet-le-Duc, believed that restoration should simply – and exclusively – be a delicate reconstruction of the building’s original features. Meanwhile, Ruskin’s position was that modern intervention is pivotal, when working on an existing structure. Tuckey's work balances the two, exploring the limits of when one should start and the other begin.
''Building on the Built' features projects such as ongoing renovation of a Victorian primary school in Westminster; the interior architecture of the neighbouring Gasholders development, which overlooks the exhibition’s central Kings Cross location; and Shadow House, the transformation of a Grade II listed chapel into a contemporary family home.
A series of breakfast talks and evening lectures, exploring the challenges and opportunities the practice encounters, will offer special insight into how it tackles a regenerative project.
The exhibition narrative showcases Tuckey’s eye for detail and ability to envision and introduce new architectural elements to existing structures, while paying due respect to history and the surrounding urban context.
The show features a selection of models from the studio's large portfolio of historic renovations and modern interventions to existing buildings
Projects include the ongoing renovation of a Victorian primary school in Westminster; the interior architecture of the neighbouring Gasholders development in Kings Cross; and Shadow house, the transformation of a Grade II listed chapel into a modern family home
The exhibition was inspired by Joseph Gandy’s painting ‘1818 Public and Private Buildings Executed by Sir John Soane’
INFORMATION
'Building on the Built' will run until May 18. For more information visit the exhibition's website
ADDRESS
6-8 Stable Street
London
N1C 4AB
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Spend a night at the renovated Villa Medici, ‘one of Rome’s greatest sleepover experiences’
Villa Medici is not a hotel; but if you can snag a room at what’s in fact the French Academy in Rome, you’re in for a design treat
-
A bespoke 40m mixed-media dragon is the centrepiece of Glastonbury’s new chill-out area
New for 2025 is Dragon's Tail – a space to offer some calm within Glastonbury’s late-night area with artwork by Edgar Phillips at its heart
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craft
The ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
Kengo Kuma’s ‘Paper Clouds’ in London is a ‘poem’ celebrating washi paper in construction
‘Paper Clouds’, an installation by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is a poetic design that furthers research into the use of washi paper in construction
-
Foster + Partners to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
For the Queen Elizabeth II memorial, Foster + Partners designs proposal includes a new bridge, gates, gardens and figurative sculptures in St James’ Park
-
Wolves Lane Centre brings greenery, growing and grass roots together
Wolves Lane Centre, a new, green community hub in north London by Material Cultures and Studio Gil, brings to the fore natural materials and a spirit of togetherness
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshop
New Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on life
Thanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being reborn as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Lego and Serpentine celebrate World Play Day with a new pavilion
Lego and Serpentine have just unveiled their Play Pavilion; a colourful new structure in Kensington Gardens in London and a gesture that celebrates World Play Day (11 June)
-
Inside Abbey Road's refresh: touring the legendary studio's new interior
Abbey Road gets an interior refresh by Threefold Architects, bringing the legendary London recording studio in tune with the 21st century
-
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready to visit, ‘an exhibition you can use’
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready for its public opening on 6 June; we toured the structure and spoke to its architect, Marina Tabassum