CCA Architecture competition

In March 2014 Goldsmiths launched a competition for architects to register their interest in the project to build an Art Gallery at Goldsmiths. The competition jury – which included Antony Gormley and David Chipperfield – shortlisted six companies from more than 80 expressions of interest.

Cutting-edge young architecture collective Assemble were the chosen winners for their design which will expose the hidden character of the Laurie Grove bath tanks and create a unique opportunity to welcome the public to Goldsmiths, enabling them to experience both the tanks and existing building in new and exciting ways.

Below are all the shortlisted firms and an example of their proposed designs.

6a Architects

6a architects was founded by Tom Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald in 2001 and has since developed a reputation for award-winning contemporary art galleries, educational buildings and residential projects in sensitive historic settings.

Together with project director Takeshi Hayatsu and three associates, the practice undertakes wide-ranging projects from private commissions to large cultural buildings. The practice has won major international competitions and awards, including an RIBA Award, nominations for the European Union prize (2010, 2011 & 2012) and the Schelling Medal for Architecture (2012).  

Recent work includes the critically acclaimed South London Gallery, the contemporary art centre Raven Row and the Fashion Galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Current projects include a students’ residence for Churchill College, Cambridge, a photography studio for Juergen Teller, a new gallery for Milton Keynes and Modern Art Oxford.  

The practice is closely tied to culture and the arts and has designed exhibitions for Tate Britain, the Design Museum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Hayward Gallery.

Assemble - the winning design

Assemble are a young, award winning design & architecture practice based in London. Their work focuses on using design as a tool to improve social and cultural life, committed to uncovering the extraordinary opportunities that exist on the fringes of everyday life and the built environment.

Assemble champion a working practice that is interdependent and collaborative, seeking to actively involve the public as both participant and accomplice in the on-going realisation of the work. The practice is interested in the physical qualities of construction from the smallest detail to large scale urban design.

They enjoy the act of making, developing design solutions through an understanding and celebration of craft, with the intention of blurring the conventional boundaries between designer and maker, architect and builder.

Dow Jones Architects Ltd

"Dow Jones Architects is one of Britain’s most gifted young practices." - Jay Merrick, The Independent, August 6th 2010.

Dow Jones Architects is an award-winning practice based in London, with a reputation for producing well - crafted, conceptually clear architecture. Since formation in 2000, they have designed a celebrated and wide-ranging body of work, which has been published in many architectural and mainstream publications around the world and featured in several exhibitions.

Their work ranges from strategic planning projects for Design for London to museum and gallery projects, and bespoke houses. They are currently working on a major extension to the Garden Museum in London, and are designing a Maggie’s Centre in Cardiff.

Dow Jones Architects worked with Momentum Engineering and Mindseye Lighting during Phase 1 at The Garden Museum (2008) and are currently working collectively on the Christ Church Crypt in Spitalfields. Max Fordham and G&T are currently involved with the Maggie’s Centre.

Harry Gugger Studio

Harry Gugger Studio is a young, highly skilled multi-national team of designers based in Basel, Switzerland. Established in 2010 by Harry Gugger after nineteen years as a partner with Herzog & de Meuron, the Studio believes that there is no single blueprint to creating a successful project. 

Through cultivating a ‘shared ambition’ together with its clients in an open, holistic and cost-conscious manner, the Studio aims to uncover the unique character of each individual project to produce imaginative, challenging and considered architecture. 

Drawing upon its worldwide network of expert collaborators, advisers and specialists to amplify the knowledge base of its in-house teams, the Studio creates bespoke projects that are tailor-made to their clients, users, requirements, place and environment. This collaborative approach ensures the development of a richer and more specific architecture that incorporates successful social, economic and environmentally sustainable solutions.

HAT Projects Limited

HAT Projects is an award-winning practice led by Hana Loftus and Tom Grieve, with particular expertise in cultural projects and listed buildings.

Of their major projects, both the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings and High House Artists’ Studios won RIBA awards and the Jerwood Gallery was mid-listed for the 2013 Stirling Prize. They are currently working on Shoreditch Town Hall and the Gasworks gallery and studio complex in south London, alongside housing and commercial projects. 

HAT Projects are known for elegant, rational and materially rich buildings that encourage exploration and engagement, and are finely tuned to their functions and their contexts. Described as one of Britain’s brightest young practices in the Observer, they were runners-up for Young Architect of the Year 2013 and were recently named RIBA East Emerging Architect of the Year.

Jamie Fobert Architects Limited

Jamie Fobert Architects has a reputation for innovative and inspiring architectural design in the residential, retail and arts sectors. The practice has demonstrated a consistent approach to resolving client ambitions and site complexities into a tactile architecture of volume, material and light.

Jamie Fobert Architects has an excellent track record in working with diverse public clients. The offices approach will draw strongly on our valuable experience gained over many years, working with clients like Kettle’s Yard, Charleston Trust and Tate, that a successful project is one that will serve to satisfy and inspire the clients and end users. Jamie Fobert Architects has garnered several awards, including the Manser Medal and the RIBA and English Heritage ‘Award for a building in an historic context’.

The practice has won three major public commissions for cultural organisations: Tate St Ives, the Charleston Trust and the Kettle’s Yard Gallery.