Portfolio Gallery
Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh

Project Value: £100,000
Client: Gloria Chalmers

PRUDENTIAL AWARD FOR THE ARTS WINNER

Portfolio Gallery is ideally situated in Edinburgh’s Old Town, however the internal spaces of the eighteenth century tenement had been problematic for both exhibitions and disabled access. The project brief was to create a larger gallery space by opening up a series of small rooms and removing a structural stone wall.

Visitors to the gallery had been unaware of the mezzanine level and in order to visually link the two levels, walls and solid balustrading surrounding the traditional stone staircase were removed and replaced with glass fins.

The interior philosophy was to keep finishes simple and crisp so as not to distract the visitor from the exhibits. Hence, white was used throughout to set of the predominance of black and white photographs. To contrast with the lines of glass and the white walls and to add some warmth to an otherwise stark interior, beech flooring and a continuous American Cherry handrail were chosen. Lighting was based on a low voltage system.

Finally to provide the gallery with a permanent presence to the street, a new sandblasted logo was installed.

The Gallery won a Prudential Award for the Arts coming top in the Visual Arts category with the refurbished space being cited by the Award Panel.

Photos © Keith Hunter