Reports

Report of the Council on the construction of education space and gallery refurbishment at Kettle’s Yard

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In this Report the Council is seeking approval for the construction of a new education wing and a major gallery refurbishment at Kettle’s Yard as set out below.

2. A First-stage Report on the construction of education space and gallery refurbishment at Kettle’s Yard was submitted to the Regent House on 8 October 2014 (Reporter, 6359, 2014–15, p. 41) and approved by Grace 1 of 5 November 2014. This Second-stage Report is to inform the Regent House about further development of the scheme and to seek approval for construction to proceed.

3. The project will develop vacant premises at Nos. 4 and 5 Castle Street to provide two education spaces, one at basement level for practical art activities, and the other at second-floor level for lectures, films, seminars, etc. The existing gallery spaces will be reconfigured to create two contemporary galleries. Gallery 1 (situated along Castle Street) will utilize the existing flat above to create a double height gallery. The existing flat on the second floor will be adapted to become the new office and meeting room for Kettle’s Yard. The existing office space will become a small café and the existing education space will become the new shop. The existing floor level of this space will be raised to match the floor level of the entrance space, where a welcome desk will be situated. A new glazed screen is proposed to provide one point of entrance and exit from the courtyard.

4. The project will be carried out in one phase and will create 454m² of new accommodation and will reconfigure 634m² of existing accommodation. The Kettle’s Yard site at Castle Street will close temporarily from 22 June 2015 for the redevelopment works. Plans are in place for some Kettle’s Yard activities and projects to continue off-site for the duration of the closure. The project is planned to be completed so that the Kettle’s Yard site reopens to the public by October 2017.

5. The estimated project cost is £8.069m. This includes a sum of £756k spent on enabling works, archaeological surveys, and professional fees associated with an earlier project to create an education wing at Kettle’s Yard, which was approved by the University in 2010. Those works were nonetheless essential for the implementation of the current project. Arts Council England has agreed to provide funding of £3.5m, and the Heritage Lottery Fund has made an award of £1,969,702. The balance of the funding has been raised primarily from Trusts and Foundations.

6. The Planning and Resources Committee, at their meeting on 25 June 2014, approved the Full Case for the proposed development, subject to a successful bid to Arts Council England. The increase in running costs for the extended facilities has been incorporated into the business plan and funds have been raised, in addition to the capital requirements, to create an endowment to cover these additional recurrent costs.

7. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade. A site plan is shown below.

8. The Council recommends:

I. That approval is confirmed for the construction of education space and gallery refurbishment at Kettle’s Yard as set out in this Report.

II. That the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) be authorized to accept a tender for the works, within the available funding, in due course.

27 May 2015	L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor	Helen Hoogewerf-McComb	Shirley Pearce
	Ross Anderson	Alice Hutchings	Evianne van Gijn
	Richard Anthony	Richard Jones	Sara Weller
	Jeremy Caddick	Fiona Karet	I. H. White
	R. Charles	Stuart Laing	A. D. Yates
	David Good	Rebecca Lingwood
	Nicholas Holmes	Rachael Padman

Site plan: Kettle's Yard proposed expansion

Kettle's Yard site plan