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A first look at Liverpool's Bluecoat Arts Centre extension

The Bluecoat Visual Arts Centre, a Grade I-listed building that dates back to 1717, is the oldest building in Liverpool city centre. 

Originally a school, it became an arts centre in 1906 and suffered heavy bombing in the Second World War.

Dutch practice BIQ Architects, with Austin-Smith:Lord and Donald Insall Associates, has undertaken an impressive restoration project, with the addition of a striking new wing.

Stealing the march on Yoko Ono, who will open the Bluecoat this Saturday (15 March), the AJ presents a sneak preview...


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The Bluecoat Courtyard: The formal entrance to the Arts Centre showing two spurs of the original H-shaped plan. Artists workshops and studios are located on either side of the courtyard.
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Gable end and the 'Gaza Strip'
The new wing buts onto one of the few access routes to The Paradise Street development. Access by multiple contractors is so highly contested architect Mark Kyffin of Austin:Smith Lord refers to it as the 'Gaza Strip' 

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Famous neighbours
The Bluecoat is spitting distance from CZWG's 'Bling Building' and Ainsley Gommon Architects's Quaker Meeting House and shares a boundary with Page and Park's BBC Radio Merseyside building. Architect Hans van der Heijden of BIQ wouldn't be drawn on how well his building compared to the other building work in Liverpool; 'that's for you to decide'....

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Model in the Foyer
A 1:20 model of the Bluecoat centre is displayed in the 4-storey foyer space

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The Auditorium...
is lit up by the lightwell that runs along the spine of the roof.
Bryan Biggs, Artistic Director at the Bluecoat addresses the assembled press.
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The Auditorium ptII
Painted brick, oak flooring and exposed concrete are used thoughout the new wing
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Hans van der Heijden
BIQ's project architect in front of the auditorium's retractable seating.
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Access Decks
The viewing gallery above the auditorium acts as a thorougfare as well as its own discrete viewing space.
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Light Control
Doors to the galleries allow light to illuminate the corridoor between courtyard garden and galleries without interefering with the lighting of artwork 

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Beads Galore
Hew Locke's work Vita Veritas Victoria in one of the large gallery spaces

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A row of Capes...
Form part of one of the video-installations. No one from our group tried them on.

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View to the new wing from the restaurant
Yellow velvet curtains add 'a touch of history, a bit of chintz' to the old wing, according to architect Hans van der Heijden
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The other bricks
The brick used throughout the new wing are stacked in tile bond, in contrast to these different types from the older wings. The short facades only show the headers whilst the long facades only show the stretchers. The dimensions of the brick define measurements throughout the building, and lend a grid to the plan.

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'The Secret Garden'
According to van der Heijden, the new wing makes the garden smaller, but by defining its edge, makes it feel larger.
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Deadpan humour
Architect van der Heijde is proud of this aspect to the building, with its 'exaggerated posh facade' that looks out onto the Paradise Street development. Granite was used because it is more resistant to graffitti and fares better in a hostile marine environment than marble.

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