The £5.1m renovation of Oriel Mostyn Art Gallery in Llandudno is nearing completion, with the reopening date schedued for 22nd May 2010.
The project, undertaken by R. L. Davies Builders, involves:
"....new galleries, a café, a hands-on education room a meeting room, a bigger and better shop, improved public facilities, and will make us fully accessible to all. We will also get some great architectural and design features: a large new gallery using a ‘saw-tooth’ roof to bring in natural light; oak floors in all the galleries; landmark gold-coloured metal tiles on the building’s spire and part of its rear façade; the striking use of concrete in ‘the Tube’ – the new circulation area linking the entrance with the exhibition galleries and the stairway linking the first and second floors. Concerned about the building and what will happen to it? Don’t be! The plans include the complete refurbishment of the original 1901 façade, canopy and existing galleries and the sympathetic integration with them of the new areas"
There has been some criticism of the amount of money spent on this project - I can understand that but my view is...if this money isn't spent in Llandudno, then it will be spent in Swansea or Cardiff instead, so we may as well take full advantage of the funding that is available. Besides that, the expansion of Oriel Mostyn will give us a first-class Arts facility - probably the finest in North Wales. Isn't this the sort of thing we should be encouraging in Llandudno?
I'm looking forward to the Opening Day!
The project, undertaken by R. L. Davies Builders, involves:
"....new galleries, a café, a hands-on education room a meeting room, a bigger and better shop, improved public facilities, and will make us fully accessible to all. We will also get some great architectural and design features: a large new gallery using a ‘saw-tooth’ roof to bring in natural light; oak floors in all the galleries; landmark gold-coloured metal tiles on the building’s spire and part of its rear façade; the striking use of concrete in ‘the Tube’ – the new circulation area linking the entrance with the exhibition galleries and the stairway linking the first and second floors. Concerned about the building and what will happen to it? Don’t be! The plans include the complete refurbishment of the original 1901 façade, canopy and existing galleries and the sympathetic integration with them of the new areas"
There has been some criticism of the amount of money spent on this project - I can understand that but my view is...if this money isn't spent in Llandudno, then it will be spent in Swansea or Cardiff instead, so we may as well take full advantage of the funding that is available. Besides that, the expansion of Oriel Mostyn will give us a first-class Arts facility - probably the finest in North Wales. Isn't this the sort of thing we should be encouraging in Llandudno?
I'm looking forward to the Opening Day!
Oriel Mostyn Website:
http://www.mostyn.org
Facebook Group:
Oriel Mostyn
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Posts
8 comments:
New oak floors? I always thought the old stripped pine floor was one of the nicest features of the gallery. Shame if it's gone.
That new 'steeple' on top - they should cover it in slate of colour it to match the front of the building. It looks a little odd to me.
Oi, Lizardy watsit,
You gerrem all on ‘ere dontcha, that Peterbees gezzer...... itsa brand new floor.... what more do ya want?
That Reggie aint gorra clue eivver, lardy-dah, matcin’ colours, whats he know about ark.. arce... buildings, anyone would fink he’s a yank architect.
Now, about you lizardy gezzer, how ya gettin’ on?, ya looked evva so lonely at that meetin’, if an’ ya wanna meet a nice girl I know some right crackers, we have girlie nights nights out an’ I wuz tellin’ ‘em about ya, ‘bout ya bin a photographer un everyfing, told ‘em you aint one a them sleazy ones though. Just you gis the nod an’ I’ll sort ya out wiv one of ‘em, alwight.
See ya
Mrs Byron, I happend to have a Leggo set, and that's where I learned my trade. Red & white bricks complimented each other perfectly, but when I used yellow bricks.....it was a complete 'no no'.
Chameleon, do you have any photo's of the rear of the building? I took a look from the Garage Street area, and the constuction there was quite extensive.
There's been a big extension built at the rear, as you say. I don't have any good pics but will get some soon.
A few comments in response. Money: Nearly all the money was either raised by ourselves or was Arts Council of Wales capital Lottery money, which can only go to arts projects anyway. Any other public money, totaling about £420,000 from four different 'pots', has been assessed on the basis of the project's benefit to tourism, environmental improvement, community facilities and historic buildings restoration.
The Pine Floor: The original idea was to keep this but in reality it had worn so thin in some places with sanding over the years that the decision had to be made to replace it. The new gallery will have oak floors throughout.
The Spire: I can understand why some people might have preferred to retain the slate but we wanted to make the building a landmark for the town, which has great architecture overall as we know but no individual building that stands out. The gold tiles received Cadw approval and listed building consent, and so far the response has been 100% positive apart from Reggie's comment above. In fact a surprising number of people have said they hadn't realised the building had a spire until now.
The back: the rear of the building on Garage Street has been totally rebuilt. There are photographs on our Facebook page (just search for 'Oriel Mostyn') but bear in mind that the area which is currently a black weatherproofing material will be clad in the gold tiles, while the concrete area will be painted a dark charcoal.
Gold tiles eh? Must have been a job-lot from Saddam Hussain's palace.
Looks like we've been rumbled.
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