In pictures: New designs for major contemporary arts centre in Northampton

Plans are progressing in the redevelopment of 24 Guildhall Roadin Northampton, with NN Contemporary Art sharing new designs for a Civic Reading Room artist commission by Giles Round.

Round is designing a new artist-led civic, social, and educational space comprising a community kitchen, reading room, café-bar and co-working and learning hub. The commission draws inspiration from the particular architectures of Northampton, weaving in references to town landmarks including 78 Derngate, The Guildhall and the Mounts Baths.

The creative spaces will open to the public in Autumn 2024, following the completion of the £4.7 million capital project that is transforming 24 Guildhall Roadinto a major contemporary arts centre for Northampton, as a partnership project between West Northamptonshire Council and NN Contemporary Art.

In these new images, Round has created a collage of future creative communities, human and non-human, to portray an eclectic palette of possibilities and collaborations enabled by creating these kind of spaces. A varied collection of objects and commissions inspired by local knowledge and skills will be available in the space to create and inspire a programme of hosting and being hosted by artists and their communities. A dining room and cafe will focus on local circular economies, local produce and sustainable practices across food and design.

The commission is one of only a handful of permanent commissions that Giles Round has undertaken, having recently designed a curtain for the Foyer of Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, and a series of permanent works for the London Underground, realised at Blackhorse Road, Vauxhall and Victoria underground stations.

Emer Grant, CEO and Artistic Director, NN Contemporary Art, said: "We are delighted to reveal Giles Round’s designs for our Civic Reading Room, which is set to open as a truly unique space for Northampton. It was a competitive process through which many exciting designs came forward for the space, however Giles Round’s painterly approach to designing artist-led spaces stood out as an exciting prospect for the development and staging of a creative communities curriculum and new kind of public offer for the town."

Artist Giles Roundsaid: "I am thrilled to have been commissioned to design the Civic Reading Room. The interior draws inspiration from the architecture of the town - such as 78 Derngate, The Guildhall and Mounts Baths. The spaces will be unique, specifically Northampton and unprecedented in terms of a civic arts institution. I have loved working on the interior, meeting everyone and immersing myself in the wild and decorative Northampton style. Spread across seven public rooms, the space is an incredible gift to both the community of artists/creatives and the town beyond."