The Hepworth Wakefield
Wakefield, England
The Hepworth Wakefield is named after the English artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth, born in Wakefield in 1903. It is a purpose-built art gallery located within the Wakefield waterfront conservation area, part of the £100 million regeneration of Waterfront Wakefield. It includes the restoration of former mill and warehouse buildings, the development of new residential, office and leisure facilities, and outdoor landscaping with a new pedestrian bridge that gives access to the site. The new building sits on a sharp bend in the River Calder and dips down into the water with the weir to use the river's current to heat and cool the building.
Main Inspiration
Barbara Hepworth was born in Wakefield in 1903. Hepworth began sculpting at the royal college of art in London in 1921 when modernism emerged from a newly industrialised society. Hepworth’s sculptures focused on the abstraction of form from “the human figure and landscape” with careful attention to the materials used and their qualities.
David Chipperfield used Hepworth’s approach to design as inspiration for the Hepworth Wakefield. He Created abstracted forms inspired by the landscape and utilising the natural qualities of concrete used for construction.
Understanding of the Brief
As part of the £100 million regeneration of the Wakefield waterfront, the council wanted a new purpose-built gallery to house a collection of Barbara Hepworth's sculptures, some permanently, who had grown up in Wakefield. David Chipperfield responded by using Hepworth's approach for design and the surrounding context as inspiration for the design resulting in concrete blocks with a variety of angled roofs to reflect the industrial background of the site. The roofs are intentionally angled to allow the best light into each gallery space which passes through louvres and diffuses to create a soft light over certain sculptures or Hepworth's paintings. Selected spaces also have direct lighting to light certain sculptures, allowing the gallery to have versatility in terms of lighting for temporary exhibitions.
