Bath Spa University moved campus in 2019 during which the iconic 70’s Herman Miller factory received a makeover, this building was originally designed by Sir Nicolas Grimshaw in 1975, fast forward over 40 years and Grimshaw Architects were once again asked back to re appropriate the building for Bath Spa. The building was originally designed to be as modular as possible with windows, doors and solid panels all able to be moved and reinstalled anywhere on the external fabric of the building. We were tasked with formulating a similar approach to the new shop and gallery space, we therefore designed the interior around Birch Ply modular units that can be positioned anywhere in the space and locked, this gives staff complete freedom to choose where stock and supplies go and also provides unlimited options for layout.
It was important for us to develop a connection with the original architecture so in order to achieve this we used the yellow and grey found on the main structural steels throughout the building and colour matched these onto the laminate sheets used in the construction of the furniture. A split baton oak display wall and welcome desk is used to hang shelving, this again adds to the overall modular layout of the shop. To finish we had bespoke glass display cabinets made to house a selection of art work for sale.
