PEER Gallery

PEER gallery is a community-focused, independent arts organisation that seeks to engage the local community in ambitious and artistically significant exhibitions and projects. Trevor Horne Architects were commissioned to help the gallery deliver a vastly improved public space and long-overdue gallery refurbishment. The project was phased due to deadlines attached to the various funding sources that the gallery secured, including the Arts Council and London Mayor’s Pocket Park fund, as well as crowdfunding and auctions organised by PEER. What was an unpleasant and inhospitable part of Hoxton Street has been transformed to an open and welcoming public place with trees, paving, a raised bed of planting, seating, bike parking and public art commissions. PEER’s adjacent gallery façade has been renovated with floor to ceiling windows making exhibitions more visible from the street and integrating the organisation further into the local environment. A four-metre high freestanding pedestal clock has been installed on Hoxton Street and PEER’s first annual clock commission is Black Hands by Chris Ofili. Local groups have planted and cared for the planter bed. I was Project Architect from inception to completion of both phases, working with the client, local stakeholders and funding bodies to ensure that the project met the increased scrutiny that comes with being an arts charity.