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Sir Hermann Black Gallery

Part 1 Project 2005
Edmund Spencer
Alina Stoica
 University of Sydney | Australia
A contemporary art gallery for the University of Sydney, the Sir Hermann Black Gallery negotiates a complex triangular site at the junction of the University campus and the surrounding inner-urban community. The challenge was to create a building which both embraced its context and provided a reflective sanctum within. The solution derives from the strong geometry of the site with two intersecting cubic volumes anchoring two mysteriously skewed sculpture terraces which rise from tranquil pools and project from the solid core. The forms shelter a new forum activated by commercial tenancies with the Gallery entry at their centre. By creating a serenely mysterious object intricately related to its site, the new Gallery seduces visitors to explore their surrounds and forges a new relationship between the University and the local community.


Edmund Spencer’s solution to a class brief is one of exemplary elegance in its programmatic, formal and contextual interpretation. The building’s delicately proportioned geometry responds directly to the difficult triangular site. The main rectangular form, along the length of the site, links through aerial bridges to two smaller cubic forms that embrace a forecourt inviting exploration. Dramatic spatial contrasts and logical pathways skilfully engage visitors to journey through the building’s permanent art collection. The strength of this solution lies in its outstandingly skilful command of program, space, materiality, architectural form and site to create a building of deceptively simple elegance.
Tutor(s)
2005
The Sir Hermann Black Gallery: A new contemporary art gallery to house the University’s permanent collection, sculpture space, temporary exhibitions and commercial tenancies. A new link between the University and the community.
Located on a triangular site at a busy intersection, the new gallery reaches out to the diverse communities which surround it. From the University itself on one side, to a dense urban hub, to the quiet residential tree-lined streets behind.
The building is composed of two perpendicular intersecting wings with the entry at their junction. The galleries themselves are robust rectilinear elements which float above the transparent base and anchor the mysteriously gestural sculpture terraces.
Multiple intersecting cubic volumes and a differentiation of light concrete and dark zinc cladding define the building’s expression. The transparent base, entry atrium and solidity of the enclosed galleries are emphasised on both street frontages.
Ground Floor Plan: The café, shop and commercial gallery open off the public forecourt flanked by the elevated sculpture terraces which rise out of pools of water. The sunny north facing deck and pools reinforce the calm order of the building composition
First Floor Plan: The first floor galleries lead out from the voluminous triple height entry atrium. A series of bridges lead the visitor through the galleries to the sculpture terraces, which act as beacons and advertisements for the gallery.
The notion of seduction and discovery are the ordering principles for the gallery spaces. The intersecting volumes create a constant sense of ‘space beyond’, seducing the visitor into further exploration.
Section Detail: Gallery Volumes. Spaces of varying volume create a sense of compression and expansion, essential to the visitor’s experience of discovery.
The heavy masonry is cut away to reveal the atrium entry to the gallery, which immediately establishes the excitement of the experience and the promise of the art held tightly within.
Circulation around the entry is carefully choreographed to draw the visitor in and ignite their curiosity. The interplay of voids, bridges, platforms and vignettes offers both promise and mystery and a truly dramatic sense of arrival.
Entry Interior:The expanse of space and light within creates an immediate sense of tranquility and reflection, establishing a critical demarcation from the busy urban surrounds.
Construction detail: The robust and enclosed gallery volumes which cantilever over the glazed transparent base appear wrapped in precast concrete panels and are punctuated with limited openings.
The rear of the gallery maintains a simplicity of form and volume while recognising and responding to the residential language of terrace housing which defines the street.
The rational planning and zoning and articulation of cubic forms allows for an efficient structural resolution, in turn enabling the seamless forms and spaces to be maintained.
View from principal street frontage into entry atrium showing intersection of volumes and articulation of precast concrete and dark zinc cladding. The sculpture terraces skew to the extremeties of the site.
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