The Art Station is a non-profit arts organisation, developing a creative hub in Saxmundham. The first floor of the old post office and telephone exchange building is to be turned into a creative space for local artists, makers and tech developers, with exhibition and event spaces accessible from the High Street.
The building was designed by Thomas Winterburn in 1954 for the Post Office and clearly influenced by the prevailing European modernist style. The building elevation is predominately steel-framed ribbon glazing and panels, bookended with brick panels. The interior uses a simple material palette of terrazzo clad staircases, concrete columns and glass blocks, typical of that period. The building is utilitarian and well made with generous volumes that are flooded with natural light.
The principal aims of phase 1 is to strip out the superfluous interior elements (installed in the 1980s when it was converted into office space) so as to allow the building to be itself. The spaces will be reinvented through occupation. The works will focus on creating individual studios available for creatives to occupy as they wish together with shared coworking space, tech-work spaces, a teaching kitchen and a large communal gallery, creation and eating space.
Future phases include providing additional technical equipment, installing a lift, restoring the original glazing and creating a social space on the flat roof.
We enjoy working with other creative people and have been very fortunate to work with talented artists and art organisations. Whilst working at Site Specific Ltd, Richard worked on the design of new studio spaces for Gary Hume and Marc Quinn. More recently we have worked with Lindsay Seers assisting her with construction drawings for her installation piece 'Nowhere less now', that has been exhibited in the Hayward Gallery in London and MONA in Australia.
We have provided our services to Artangel, collaborated with Pacitti Company and continue to work with Ipswich Art Centre and Hamilton MAS in Felixstowe.
We collaborated with Pacitti Company on Block Magic for the SPILL Festival in Ipswich. The project was set on the waterfront and was a constantly shifting playground structure made of interlocking crates. The play spaces were first designed by children on tablets using a bespoke piece of software and then built daily across the festival as ever evolving physical structures for children to play in, on and around.
Block Magic by Pacitti Company and EDRM. SPILL Festival 2018, produced by Pacitti Company. Photograph of installation with child by Guido Mencari.
