Arts & Culture \ Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

Please note; all the photographs and drawings describe our design of 1991. This no longer exists. In 2021 a "refurbished and extended" Fruitmarket opened. The new designs are by Reiach and Hall Architects and involve doubling the size of the building by expanding into the former nightclub to the west. Almost all of what we designed; the staircase, entrance desk, bar/cafe, front door, wc's, etc., have been destroyed. The first floor gallery has lost all its views out to the surrounding city and has been reduced in size at either end, and the east and west clerestories no longer exist. The new project cost £4.5M; our project in 1991 cost £350,000. We leave visitors to make their own assessment of the "impovements".

This was our description of the building as it was from 1991-2018:

The Fruitmarket sits in the central valley of Edinburgh adjacent to (and above) Waverley Station. Our original commission to facelift the gallery was greatly extended to undertake a complete remodelling. This involved the construction of a new roof which flies over the old parapet thus dramatically increasing the hanging height of the upper gallery. In the centre of the roof are large rooflights and under these is a new staircase connecting the two floors and also bringing light down to the lower level. On the ground floor the cafe and bookshop were relocated to the front facade which was opened to the street as a means of dissolving the threshold and tempting visitors into an intermediate space between street and exhibition. A section of the original stone facade was completely removed to form the new entrance at street level, and provide space for a hoist at the upper level. In the summer this can be transformed into a balcony by a sliding screen.

Architects Richard Murphy, Graeme Montgomery, Clive Albert, Lee Hallman, Andrew Byrne
Engineers Woolgar Hunter
Quantity Surveyor Ross and Morton
Lighting Consultants Jonathan Spiers & Associates
Colour Consultant Linda Green, Studio Green
Contractor Peel Construction
Construction Cost £327,000
Client Fruitmarket Board

Awards

1993 EAA Silver Medal Award
1993 RIBA Award
1993 Civic Trust Award Commendation

Press

31 December 2023 Fiona Bradley on 50 years of Edinburgh's Fruitmarket gallery The Scotsman
February 2011 Still Life With Apples Building Design
3 November 1994 City Scoops Design Award Evening News
November 1994 Fire Damages Art Gallery The Scotsman
November 1994 Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh Detail Magazine No 5
June/July 1994 Fruitmarket Artwork
June 1994 Art Galleries & Museums Architype
21 May 1994 Good, Bad & Downright Ugly The Herald
14 April 1994 Building Of The Year Project Scotland
31 March 1994 Fruitmarket Design Comes Out Tops Herald And Post
March 1994 Renovation Of Fruitmarket Museum Management & Curatorship
March 1994 The Art Of Lighting Aj Focus
March 1994 Fruitmarket Gallery Techniques And Architecture
4 February 1994 Fruitmarket Gallery Bauwelt
22 January 1994 The Bucking Up Of A Modern Trend The Herald
Spring 1994 Contemporary Architecture Prospect
1994 Riba Regional Winners - The Riba Awards For Architecture - The Fruitmarket Gallery Detail
31 December 1993 Best And Worst Of 93 The Herald
December 1993 Fruitmarket Phoenix Architectural Review
October 1993 Edinburgh Fruitmarket Architecture Today
October/November 1993 Into Cultural Aside With Bleezeblock And Cold Classical Artwork 64
30 September 1993 Fruitmarket Gallery Loses Dark Image Project Scotland
19 September 1993 Spoiled By Coy Eroticism The Scotsman
12 September 1993 Juicy Design Makes For A Fruitful Space Sunday Times
6 September 1993 Transformed, No Longer Plan To See The Scotsman
3 September 1993 Photograph & Caption Building Design
20 August 1993 Fruitful Transformation The Herald
August/September 1993 Laing Time Ago The List
1993 Fruitmarket Gallery Press Reception -various-
26 October 1992 Fruitmarket Refurbishment Architects' Journal
October/November 1992 Around The Galleries Artwork 58
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