Guildhall Walk Studios

Guildhall Walk Studios is a proposed metal workshop based in central Portsmouth. The red brick, symbolic of local shipbuilding ports and the rich naval heritage of the site, supports a strong façade littered with large hole-punched shapes. The deep space-conscious design aims to bring light down into the basement through an open atrium space. The existing space failed to provide a meaning use, and so to ensure the maximum space permitted for the project, the buildings design approaches right up to the site border, thereby allowing for larger exhibition rooms and the generous allocation of a public café. The basement is operated by the workshop, producing art and orders for local businesses and exhibitions held above in the exhibition space. The architecture mimics the arch’s of ship building and finds its place in sharing its common material with the context. The roof is intended to act as a small ‘isolated’ garden where the maximised enclave leaves only the view of the sky.