Our architectural vision when designing the tapestry centre was to create a distinctive building, rooted in its historical context, with a special room for the tapestry at the heart. The dramatic geometric roof design is inspired by the unique roofscape of towers, dormers, gables and pitched roofs that define the architectural character of Galashiels. As you approach Galashiels the roofs of the town unfold before you, occasionally pierced by spires of significant civic and community buildings. The new gallery inserts into this roofscape as a contemporary and playful re-imagining of the traditional Victorian pitched roof.
The ground floor houses a temporary gallery space, reception, shop, café and education space. The main gallery space is on the first floor; a dramatic room formed from folding walls and a geometric ceiling. This room is purpose built, precisely shaped to house the tapestry. The artwork wraps around a series of radial display walls to form a continuous display. At the four corners of the gallery are tall windows, each looking to one of the four hills that surround Galashiels.
The new gallery is connected by a glazed link to the old Post Office building. The Post Office opened to great fanfare in 1896 and was a symbol of Galashiels’ prosperity as a booming textile town of the nineteenth century. The subtle articulation and detailing of the stonework elevations to the Post Office inspired the stepping stone façade of the visitor centre. Vertical and horizontal bands of stonework envelope the building, like the warp and weft of a textile.
The palette of colour and texture in the interior design reflects the nuance and detail of the tapestry, as well as the rich textile heritage of the Borders. The walls of the gallery are clad with fabric woven on the Isle of Bute and finished locally in Galashiels. The bespoke colour was designed for this project, inspired by the ever changing colours of the hills surrounding Galashiels.
