Tate Liverpool - Chris Dyson Architects limited

Tate Liverpool

Conversion of the top floor of the former industrial buildings previously converted by James Sterling and Michael Wilford providing new mixed media and sculpture galleries with top lighting.

The Tate Gallery occupies one and of Jesse Hartley’s 1846 warehouses, on seven floors with a mezzanine at ground floor and a basement. The layout was initially determined by the position of an existing stair at one end, which was retained. Keeping alterations to a minimum, the parts where internal height was greatest were modified, to provide a sequence of galleries with a large entrance hall and new technical services to international standard.

Other spaces where the ceiling height was lower were adapted for administration and curatorial offices, a videotheque, education facilities, and a reading room. The main entrance to the museum is under an arch in the colonnade where ships were once unloaded by crane. This marks the middle of the generous public lobby which extends across four bays of the building and is enclosed by a new external wall with ‘porthole’ windows and ‘nautical’ colours which identify the museum from across the dock. Part of the mezzanine was removed to create a double-height lobby and a balcony for the coffee shop and bookshop.