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An Unexpected Mosaic
They say fate works in mysterious ways. A long held dream of an exciting new art space to champion some of the amazing handmade vessels, art and objects being created by artists and makers today. An offer was pending on a completely different property and, in frustration at the delay, we decided to check out…
Snippets of the journey from dilapidated Victorian pharmacy to contemporary art space
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A Hoard of Heritage Treasures
An untidy vista of dust ridden shelves, many still loaded with all manner of make me look good, smell good and feel good products. But, in amongst the neglected chaos of an abandoned, modern pharmacy, I couldn’t help but notice some beautiful, unique pieces of history. Old pharmaceutical bottles, antique weighing scales, hand bound prescription…
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Cue The Black Book
Next couple of weeks were a dusk to dawn blur of adrenaline-laced ideas during the day and scribbles in the middle of the night, formulating an exciting blueprint for a vibrant, successful new gallery. A wish list of artists, exceptional makers, sitting at the heart of the big plan. Synchronicity of heritage and contemporary. What…
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The Offer, The Bid, The Gazump And Gazumping the Gazumper
On the market unsold for well over a year. Decided on a reasonable figure, given no offers to date and contacted agent. Offer in late Sunday night. Wasn’t prepared for the immediate counter offer first thing Monday morning. Strange coincidence? Wasn’t prepared for a bidding war and sealed bids, but that’s where it went. By…
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The Keys, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Went to collect the keys from the agent. In the corner of the yard, on the top of a small rubbish heap, a 70s style idyllic coastal scene set in a large, ornate, plastic gold frame. A bit kitsch, but made me smile. A wry suggestion of what the future holds. ‘One man’s rubbish is…
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Fast Track To Modern Business Etiquette
Barely through the starting gate, and we seem to be encountering a few anomalies that need a sharp business skill set Three weeks of toing and froing the site and rush in to switch off the alarm as usual, only to find its shadow on the wall. No actual alarm. Head spin moment. Where’s the…
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The Architect, The Lighting Designer, The Build And The Bigger Plan.
Now then, where to start? Who is going to help us get this space where it needs to be some obvious changes clearly needed, and some obvious changes wanted. First stop. The entrance to the flat cutting right through the middle of the pharmacy. So that obviously needs to go. Then there is the 80s…
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Bob The Builder Begins The Build
Bob arrives. Selected because we had used his family firm before and they had done a great job and we felt they would do their best to resolve the issues in the building whilst respecting the heritage nuances along with trying to keep inside a measly budget for such an ambitious renovation. First job. Carefully…
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More Than Just a Wallflower
Loving the little swatches of old wallpaper that are being revealed during the renovation, a timeline of design history, hinting at the lives lived in the building before. In spite of the rather sad looking switch shadow on the wall, it feels a very happy place.
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Lots of decisions to make about what stays and what goes. Some easier than others. The main bathroom is going to be much smaller but Bertha the beautiful bath tub needs to stay one way or another. In complete contrast, the downstairs W.C. needs to be bigger than the closet it has been and the…
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Step into Seventh Heaven
So exciting when a plan comes together. The builder boys have de-boarded the archway and resting a bit bruised and battered behind the partition are the original steps leading to the staircase to the flat. After a bit of much needed tlc they will be regain their role and boldly lead people to the creative…
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Surviving Against The Odds
The structural engineer’s concerns about the bouncy floor upstairs led to the very difficult decision to take down the rather unstable lath and plaster ceiling. A good decision in the end, as the beams supporting the floor above were the half the thickness they should be, hence the bounce and we can now feel confident…
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Bob The Builder is making progress
Soooo many challenges in this renovation it makes your head spin. Numerous moments when we think why didn’t we just find a something ready made good to move into. There’s enough to do setting up a new business without actually having to renovate first, but each time we come back to there’s nowhere else like…
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Palatial Parquet
What an exciting find, long forgotten under deep layers of chipboard, old tiles and carpet is what must be the original, stunning Versailles pattern parquet floor. For a moment, the plans for hard wearing alchemist style Amtico tiles get pushed to one side and there is a vision of palace level, original flooring restored. But…
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Turns Out Being Turned Down Can Sometimes Turn Out Terrific
Every detail matters a great deal in this renovation. Even the utility space, tucked away in the back, hasn’t escaped a bit of over thinking. There was a practical but pretty ugly black particle board worktop sandwiched between some overbearing, heavy duty prescription cupboards that had never been used . The whole utility area seemed…
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O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?
The new entrance to the upstairs flat has been one of the biggest dilemmas in the project and completely at odds with keeping the budget under strict control. Decided on a balcony and staircase, but the decision to go high end on a part of the project that isn’t front of house has been a…
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Pestles, Pigments and the Perfect Palette
The Pharmacy and The Gallery are inextricably linked by their connection to colour that it seems very fitting that an old pharmacy should evolve into a contemporary art space. We found a number of pestles and mortars in the cellar, two of them recently discovered lost/hidden behind a partition. Alongside the obvious vision of pharmacists…
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Who is ‘we’?
By now you have likely got a sense for the foundations, in some cases, literally, being put in for this exciting, unique, new art space. But you might be wondering who ‘we’ is. Step forward, Polly, Dreamer and founder. Various hats in the art business, from artist and maker of extraordinary dyed aluminum artworks that…
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