Artist Nick Veasey unveils farm-inspired concrete X-ray studio and gallery in Kent
![nick veasey gallery in kent](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3DSi7h4XZhENKbLd3PYnjh-415-80.jpeg)
A dilapidated corrugated iron pig shed in a Kent field has been replaced with a gallery and studio for acclaimed artist Nick Veasey. He commissioned Guy Hollaway Architects to design the 265 sq m Process Gallery to hold his own work, which is created with X-ray imaging technology, and exhibitions by other artists.
‘As the X-rays emit radiation, you don’t really want me as your next door neighbour,' says Veasey of the setting outside the village of Lenham, adding that it was also ‘within our meagre budget'.
Veasey wanted to pick up on the site’s previous structure, and was inspired by the work of Australian Pritzker Prize-winner Glen Murcutt, ‘who has designed some sexy buildings with corrugated iron'.
The structure takes its cues from traditional Kent farm structures
Hollaway switched to poured concrete, creating an angular form that borrows from the oast house typology. This isn’t the first reimaging of Kent’s traditional farm building. In 2017, a modern take on the oast house, by James Macdonald Wright and Carmarthenshire-based Niall Maxwell, was named RIBA’s house of the year.
Just six miles down the road, Process Gallery’s pyramid chamber houses Veasey’s X-ray equipment, and is intended to ‘emulate the splay of the X-ray machine', says Hollaway. The concrete absorbs the radiation.
‘Having shown my work at galleries all over the world from the good, bad and indifferent, I have learnt what makes an engaging exhibition', claims Veasey, whose images were featured in the V&A’s show earlier this year, ‘Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion'. His works will make up the inaugural show.
As the landscape matures, the intention is to create a sculpture park, where artists can display their works. Just four miles away is the major cultural attraction of Leeds Castle, which was originally built in 1119 by a Norman baron. ‘Time will tell if there is a demand for a quality contemporary art gallery in this location', muses Veasey.
The structure is mostly made out of thick concrete, with timber details
The project houses the artist’s X-ray lab as well as exhibition spaces
Inside, gallery rooms are bright and look out towards the Kent countryside, interchanging with..
..enclosed spaces where Veasey works with X-ray imaging technology to produce his work
The X-ray equipment is located in the pyramid-like wing of the structure
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Guy Hollaway Architects
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Clare Dowdy is a London-based freelance design and architecture journalist who has written for titles including Wallpaper*, BBC, Monocle and the Financial Times. She’s the author of ‘Made In London: From Workshops to Factories’ and co-author of ‘Made in Ibiza: A Journey into the Creative Heart of the White Island’.
-
Take off: Mathieu Lehanneur's Olympic Cauldron rises into the Parisian night sky
The Paris 2024 Olympics’ opening ceremony was closed with a soaring cauldron spectacle that will go down in history
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published
-
‘Mental health, motherhood and class’: Hannah Perry’s dynamic installation at Baltic
Hannah Perry's exhibition ’Manual Labour’ is on show at Baltic in Gateshead, UK, a five-part installation drawing parallels between motherhood and factory work
By Emily Steer Published
-
Francis Alÿs plots child play around the world at the Barbican
In Francis Alÿs' exhibition ‘Ricochets’ at London’s Barbican, the artist explores the universality of play, even in challenging situations
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
At Glastonbury’s Shangri-La, activism and innovation meet
Glastonbury’s south-east corner is known for its after-dark entertainment but by day, there is a different story to tell
By Rhian Daly Published
-
Suzannah Pettigrew's 'tender and ghostly' new show at Surrealist photographer Lee Miller's former home in East Sussex
London-based artist Suzannah Pettigrew's photographic stills create a snapshot of her Sussex coast childhood, conjuring up a hallucinatory world of memory
By Mary Cleary Published
-
The Roth Bar at Hauser & Wirth Somerset serves up a cocktail of salvaged materials
Art and entertaining meet in Oddur Roth’s bar sculpture at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a site-specific installation and social hub
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Studio Lenca nods to Salvadorian heritage with riot of colour in Margate
Studio Lenca considers boundaries in ‘Leave to Remain’ at Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate
By Emily Steer Published
-
Meet the Turner Prize 2024 shortlisted artists
The Turner Prize 2024 shortlisted artists are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: Bloomsbury’s untold story
‘Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story’ is a new exhibition at Charleston in Lewes, UK, that charts the duo's creative legacy
By Katie Tobin Published