PROJECT DESCRIPTION
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The three main aims of the project were:

• To repair and refurbish Camden Arts Centre’s existing building
  
• To remodel the internal spaces of the ground floor to enable easy access to the building for people with disabilities or problems with mobility and to provide a visual connection for visitors between the galleries and education spaces
  
• To expand the available floorspace by recovering previously unusable spaces and building a new extension to encompass a café.

METHOD
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muf were appointed as artists for the design team. They carried out research into what the Centre and its programme meant to people and then constructed hoardings featuring text that sampled public reaction. Openings were created in the hoardings for the public to peer through offering different perspectives on the building work. When passers-by looked through the peepholes in the hoardings their view of the site was distorted, decorated and altered by kaleidoscopes, fish tanks and laser beams which were placed behind the hoardings, in front of the building.

Regular meetings were held with local residents which included site visits for local people and others.

The concurrent 'Off Centre' artistic programme took the building project as its inspiration. Oliver Godow was appointed artist in residence. He photographically documented the construction processes to show elements normally absent from public view. These were then displayed throughout London on a series of billboards and on posters in a number of London tube stations; the residency has also produced a selection of postcards which have been widely circulated internationally that engage viewers with the building works.

The Centre hosted talks by the architect, Tony Fretton and by muf, and devised special events designed to further engage public interest with the building process. A public walking tour of the local area led by Finnish artist Riiko Sakkinen started at the building site and introduced people to some of the unexpected views of London that a tourist might experience. Artist Jacques Nimki collected weeds and plant life growing on and around the building site during the construction and created a visual anthology of his findings, which was distributed as an ’unlimited’ edition.

Public involvement in the building’s redevelopment was initiated and co-ordinated by Camden Arts Centre staff, under the leadership of Jenni Lomax, Director of the Centre. The programming team were responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of artist-led projects such as Oliver Godows’ residency. The Development and Marketing team co-ordinated distribution of information and site visits. Camden Arts Centre is a publicly funded contemporary art gallery and art education centre, with education assuming equal importance with the exhibitions programme. Public involvement in the building’s redevelopment was essential in ensuring the project was viewed as part of the creative and educational work of the gallery.

BENEFIT
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Engaging the public during redevelopment helped to maintain a considerable public profile for Camden Arts Centre. In the early stages of the project feedback received was used to influence project management and conception. Public engagement was the inspiration for the hoarding project and the residency of Oliver Godow, which were two of the key ways that the Centre sought to interest the public in the redevelopment process. Meetings and forums involving the Centre’s neighbours, made the process transparent, instilling a sense of ownership and involvement in the development and construction process.

Good lines of communication with local residents were essential to managing a successful building project. General public engagement with the project has also created enthusiasm and curiosity about not only the construction process but also Camden Arts Centre’s exhibitions and education work. By viewing the building project as another aspect of the gallery programme the Centre’s staff have created an ’art-filled’ building site that offered the public glimpses of beauty in the building process.