This year has seen a bunch of art galleries across the UK announcing makeover plans, from the Dulwich Picture Gallery to Tate Liverpool. And now an art gallery in Oxford has said it’s up next, having announced a massive £1.2 million redesign for summer 2024.
The gallery in question is Modern Art Oxford (MAO), one of the UK’s leading contemporary art spaces. Housed in a former brewery, the gallery will be working with the award-winning David Kohn Architects to improve navigation and accessibility, as well as reduce energy consumption in the building.
Set to start in the summer of 2024, the regeneration project aims to make its ground and lower-ground floor spaces more accessible. But it doesn’t stop there. The new MAO café, which has been reimagined by the brilliant artist Emma Hart, will celebrate raves and spaces where people come together for enjoyment and self-expression. The furniture in the café will be inspired by dancing ‘hands in the air’ which morph into seating, while the tables will evoke disco lights throwing pools of coloured light onto the floor.
Here are a few preview renders of the new building.
Paul Hobson, director of Modern Art Oxford, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with RIBA award-winning practice, David Kohn Architects to realise our vision for a major redesign of our ground floor public areas, celebrating the industrial heritage of our building and placing local communities at the heart of our programming and welcome.’
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