The design of a two storey extension and refurbishment for Plymouths Creative Artists Facility. Flameworks is the largest artist led workspace facility in Devon and Cornwall and houses nearly 24 artists including ceramicists, jewellers, metalworkers, painters and sculptors.The design includes new artists studios and workshop spaces based at the rear of building overlooking Stonehouse creek, and a single storey entrance and office extension in the front of the building.
Hand-crafted metal and timber elements produced by the artists and craftspeople on site are fixed onto a low cost backdrop of pre fabricated industrial cladding. These elements make up the new openings in the construction that admit light, air, and people to the facility - everytime a visitor or client walks through a door, or opens a window they come in direct contact with these handcrafted elements and a bit more aware of the craft and skill of the artists that made them.A skylit corridor divides the existing building from the two storey extension adjacent to the creek. Visitors can peer down into the existing workshops or enter the new studio spaces with a high level glazed clerestorey. The ceilings of the upper studios are angled to accept the reflections of the sunlight off the water below. Ventilation to the studios is provided through Siberian Larch ventilation hatches theat punctuate the external cladding.
The project incorporates a prefabricated structure and prefabricated and insulated cladding panels in order to minimize the price of the materials and installation time on site. A large portion of the project is onsite construction. All timber cladding and joinery is from FSC accredited sources and procured from renewable stock. Passive solar elements aid heating in the winter and cooling is achieved through a coordinated cross ventilation system.
