Louise T Blouin Institute

Entrance lobby and triple height exhibition space.

Borgos Dance began by unravelling the changes that had been made over the years and imagining a more symmetrical and ordered facade.

This entailed rebuilding load-bearing masonry piers and arches over the windows to create purer and more balanced elevations.

A completely new structure had to be inserted to form generous and environmentally controlled spaces required in the brief.

In particular, the reconstruction of floors and internal structures supported by new internal foundations needed considerable care in the design and execution to achieve a successful outcome.

With Arup, the team removed all columns from the ground floor, using Macalloy steel bars to suspend the lightweight concrete floors from two 27 metre long by 2.5 metre high roof trusses.

Load transfer to these new structures was achieved by jack stressing the hanging structure into position and relieving the load from the ground floor columns.

Second floor and skylight.

The main entrance at ground floor is situated at the north of the building. It leads into a 10.5-metre high lobby on ground level, naturally lit on two sides and covered by a grid of beams that can support artwork loads.

A diagonal wall forms the third side of the triangular triple height space. This area is connected to the rest of the building by a three-storey high glass screen.

Passing through 3.5-metre high double doors, there follows a 4-metre high 465 sq m gallery space, book-ended by two large artwork walls.

To one side there is a sky-lit cafe, where formerly there was a little used and derelict outdoor courtyard.

The first and second floors include the offices of the LTB Foundation, but will also be used for other activities relating to the Foundation's projects.

Two translucent glass light wells in the roof are surrounded by an opaque polycarbonate screen that will be lit on all four sides at night and provide natural light during the day. The building's plant is concealed behind this screen.

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