The brief that was set out looked to explore how a temporary change of use and function could be achieved, through a design that would create a new lease of life into a large-scale ground floor space within Nottingham. The selected building being that of 6 Victoria Street, which sits in the heart of Nottingham, built between 1895-1897, that was once home to the Midlands Bank.

Gallery exhibitions are often temporary or ephemeral, which means to last for a very short time, however, space which forms the gallery will often be reasonably permanent. To create a space that does not seem ephemeral means to ensure people feel as though time has not been rushed in the design or construction of the space.

This response to the brief looks to produce a space that feels as though it’s meant to be there, one that looks permanent but can be taken down when required. The difficulty of this comes when considering the building is grade II listed and cannot be damaged or altered. The new design sits as an internal shell, within the existing building, which does not attach to or touch the existing elements of the building. This ensures that the installation can be truly ephemeral, with no long-lasting and irreversible effects on the building.

Within this new internal shell, there has been the creation of 7 galleries, a reading room along with a small café that doubles as an events space. The spaces created are unique from one another in the attempt to achieve a gallery which allows for a diverse selection of work to be displayed in what could be a relatively short period in which the gallery operates.