cagm1907
Submission 68
A visit to the Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum.
As I entered Clarence Street, I immediately noticed, despite the presence of the large historical museum, the tall handsome colonnade I had been told to look for extending over the pavement. A perfect place to meet my friend on this sunny, hot day. As I moved closer, I was aware of the soft shades of thin glistening stone screens perforated with beautiful patterns placed on elegant columns.
Entering the cool and shaded colonnade the dappled patterns of shadows, sunlight and colour from occasional stained glass elements was quite magical and unlike anything I had previously seen in the town.
There was a restrained simplicity and elegance to the façade but with an inherent strength and careful integration. The proportions reflecting the vertical rhythms and horizontal stratification of the museum and Georgian terraces, the tall patterned screens complementing the mixture of ornate detailing and large areas of stuccoed walls.
The theatrical ambience of colour and light flowed into the ground floor café, foyer and shop, each linked to create a large, welcoming large new public space. I waited in the café with a large cappuccino watching Cheltenham go by. People passing through the colonnade or into the museum, standing, chatting or, like me waiting at this town landmark. My friend arrived.
“I never knew you had this in Cheltenham,” I said and we moved from the café.
Suddenly we were in a dramatic, tall, long space, an internal top-lit street, again with patterned screens set over a glass roof creating a pleasant controlled and delightful changing ambience of shadow and sunlight.
This was the exciting heart and focus for the museum. A long, elegant staircase rising and stretching dramatically through the space, people appearing suddenly on a random series of projected balconies or crossing the gallery linking bridges, a group of schoolchildren taking the glass lift to the top floor education centre.
Here away from the bustle of Clarence Street there was also a calmness and clarity. The reception desk and lift clearly visible, the space a way finding focus for all the facilities while both separating and linking the existing and new.
After obtaining our tickets from the central point we walked to the foot of the stair towards tall views of Chester Walk through a north facing glass wall.
Carefully proportioned steps took us comfortably up to each floor with each part of the journey and design of the spaces we entered informing both the typology and changing aspects of the town. The stone screens providing shading and controlled glimpses down to Clarence Street while in the north-facing spaces to Chester Street large uninterrupted floor to ceiling windows opening views to the town and landscaped church grounds. The clear contrast between the spaces was both stimulating and enjoyable.
After our visit we enjoyed a meal at the local restaurant and on leaving at dusk we passed across the western end of Clarence Street. My friend said ‘oh yes, look! ‘, pointing towards the museum.
Turning I saw the colonnade but now lit internally and transformed into a stunning glowing box, a beacon within the Cheltenham townscape.
Submission 68
A visit to the Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum.
As I entered Clarence Street, I immediately noticed, despite the presence of the large historical museum, the tall handsome colonnade I had been told to look for extending over the pavement. A perfect place to meet my friend on this sunny, hot day. As I moved closer, I was aware of the soft shades of thin glistening stone screens perforated with beautiful patterns placed on elegant columns.
Entering the cool and shaded colonnade the dappled patterns of shadows, sunlight and colour from occasional stained glass elements was quite magical and unlike anything I had previously seen in the town.
There was a restrained simplicity and elegance to the façade but with an inherent strength and careful integration. The proportions reflecting the vertical rhythms and horizontal stratification of the museum and Georgian terraces, the tall patterned screens complementing the mixture of ornate detailing and large areas of stuccoed walls.
The theatrical ambience of colour and light flowed into the ground floor café, foyer and shop, each linked to create a large, welcoming large new public space. I waited in the café with a large cappuccino watching Cheltenham go by. People passing through the colonnade or into the museum, standing, chatting or, like me waiting at this town landmark. My friend arrived.
“I never knew you had this in Cheltenham,” I said and we moved from the café.
Suddenly we were in a dramatic, tall, long space, an internal top-lit street, again with patterned screens set over a glass roof creating a pleasant controlled and delightful changing ambience of shadow and sunlight.
This was the exciting heart and focus for the museum. A long, elegant staircase rising and stretching dramatically through the space, people appearing suddenly on a random series of projected balconies or crossing the gallery linking bridges, a group of schoolchildren taking the glass lift to the top floor education centre.
Here away from the bustle of Clarence Street there was also a calmness and clarity. The reception desk and lift clearly visible, the space a way finding focus for all the facilities while both separating and linking the existing and new.
After obtaining our tickets from the central point we walked to the foot of the stair towards tall views of Chester Walk through a north facing glass wall.
Carefully proportioned steps took us comfortably up to each floor with each part of the journey and design of the spaces we entered informing both the typology and changing aspects of the town. The stone screens providing shading and controlled glimpses down to Clarence Street while in the north-facing spaces to Chester Street large uninterrupted floor to ceiling windows opening views to the town and landscaped church grounds. The clear contrast between the spaces was both stimulating and enjoyable.
After our visit we enjoyed a meal at the local restaurant and on leaving at dusk we passed across the western end of Clarence Street. My friend said ‘oh yes, look! ‘, pointing towards the museum.
Turning I saw the colonnade but now lit internally and transformed into a stunning glowing box, a beacon within the Cheltenham townscape.