Flexibility for Growth, Change and Adaptation
Within the context of a high level of ambition, a long-term view and limited funding in the immediate-term, we set out a vision that allows flexibility for growth, change and adaptation, but is nevertheless specific about the first gentle moves to be made. The first phase is modest but sets the foundation for future growth.

Field of Possibilities
The underlying design philosophy for the project is to create the ‘rug not the picnic’. That is to enable the many and creative adaptations and inhabitations that a set of vigorous visiting artists will bring, without on the one hand burdening those artists with infrastructural headaches, or on the other hand imposing an overpowering formal language. In other words, the reticence and good practice of any good gallery design, but pushed a little further to reflect the more open field of possibilities at Lydney.

Specific Material and Spatial Character
This self-effacement is not to be confused with neutrality - we propose spaces and buildings of strong and specific material and spatial character. With the qualities of the unfinished - rawness, materiality, imaginative possibility, seeming appropriate and enjoyable.

Specific Moves
The first phase, was the extreme version of this philosophy, with the limited budget used to create the most fundamental infrastructure. The outward appearance is a set of almost mundane practicalities – urgent repair, shelter, water, sanitation, power, warmth. Behind this, though, lied careful consideration of the latent potential of these simple acts - the opportunity for vibrant and creative inhabitation as well as the next steps in the broader arc of the project. While part of an overall strategy (vision, direction, identity), the individual components are autonomous. These sketch proposals should allow further definition of priorities and possibilities.