A Mews House Transformed

The Paddington Pantheon is a gallery and home located within the historic Bathurst Mews, in west end London. Jonathan Tuckey Design were commissioned to dramatically alter the existing building into a series of exhibition volumes whilst expanding and reorientating living spaces within the residence.

The contemporary interventions reference the Pantheon (from which the project borrows it's name), which is formally significant due to the oculus that crowns it's domed roof. Through the inclusion of a skylight, penetration of light through a celestial aperture is mimicked as a device. Nodding to the work of James Turrell, this was placed above the gallery space in a prismatic roof, contorted away from the orientation of the plan towards the north-south passage of the sun.

The importance of light permeating through the space is not just employed architecturally, it speaks to the methods and medium of the artists. The dialogue between creative practice and installation space was paramount from the conception of the project.

Bathurst mews is a rich collection of Victorian Mews coach houses, dating back to the 1830s and now part of the Bayswater Conservation Area. Today it comprises two of the last horse-riding schools in central London; a reminder of the historic functionality this quaint street was originally designed for.

Artists, Rob and Nick Carter, own the building and commissioned the restoration and adaptive reuse of the property. The internal gallery spaces often exhibit their own work; examining the boundaries between the analogue and digital, using media including camera-less photography, painting, installation and sculpture. The artist’s overarching narrative is to reference historical processes and harness modern technologies.

Currently exhibiting at The Paddington Pantheon is a varied collection of tapestries, still life paintings, photography and sculpture. This breadth of pieces question and examine the use of AI and robotics within contemporary art, replicating traditional techniques that are associated with the Old Masters.