A Masterplan approach was taken where the project was viewed as a tourist destination, and consequently needed as much intensification as possible.
To the Wearable Arts Gallery and Art Department were added a collection of seventy classic cars displayed by individual owners, a New Zealand modern art display gallery and a café to offer refreshments prior to tourists beginning their journey down the South Island’s West Coast.
To screen the mundane existing structure and link the new forms together, a metallic aluminium ribbon wall some 6 metres high was conceived, based on a dynamic wand and silk taper seen in a Wearable Art show. The aluminium fabric and frame were investigated to achieve the dynamic, flowing and twisting aerial character of the original fabric.
NZIA NEW ZEALAND AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE 2002
Jury Citation: “The sculptural qualities of this building are a convincing and appropriate response to the fantasy world of Wearable Arts and the historic world of Classic Cars. The building fabric has been tailored in the manner of the WearableArts exhibits. The 6 metre high aluminium wall that wraps over and around the new and existing buildings like a ribbon of material tying them all together is most successful. The restrained use of colour and materials is a foil to the wonderful richness of the exhibition within.”
