Construction consultants Turner & Townsend has been providing project management services on The Art House, a £3m building in the city centre of Wakefield created to provide inclusive, flexible and innovative workspace facilities for the visual arts community.

The Art House is a national charitable membership organisation established to create equality of opportunity for disabled and non-disabled artists and craftspeople. It was founded in 1994 in response to a profound lack of physically accessible studio space.

Appointed under the OGC Framework, Turner & Townsend lead the professional project team to deliver the commission on behalf of The Art House and the result is an exemplary building in its access and design.


The Art House features artists' studios and a small gallery, technicians to support disabled artists, an equipped workshop for use by the local community, meeting rooms to let, a quiet room for people who need to rest and short-stay residential facilities enabling people to come from all over the UK to use the facilities.

The building on Drury Lane was provided by Wakefield Council – offering excellent access to the city centre - Westgate train station and other cultural organisations.

Liz Whitehouse, Director of The Art House, commented: "We needed a supportive and experienced project manager to help and guide us through our project. I was slightly concerned that as a relatively small project we would not be regarded as important by such a large organisation as Turner & Townsend, but nothing could be further from the truth.

"I would certainly work with Turner & Townsend on future developments."

This development is being undertaken in a two-phased approach. The first phase is a new three-storey building and The Art House is now working towards their second phase.

(JM)