The retention and refurbishment scheme includes reworking the existing roof of the Victorian building in the Kemptown area of Brighton, which Shrigley bought three years ago.
According to the practice, the design was inspired by ‘[US artist] Sol LeWitt’s line-based systems of conceptual art, dazzle camouflage and Brighton’s tradition of expressive roofscapes’.
The ambition is to create a piece of architecture within the Carlton Hill conservation area. which ‘operates simultaneously as workspace and a piece of public art within the city’.
The red-brick former vicarage, which sits close to a Grade II-listed church, is a non-designated heritage asset of limited architectural distinction, having undergone substantial alterations over time.
A spokesperson for the design team said: ‘The application responds directly to this context – not by seeking to impose reactionary order, but to work with the grain of the place, acknowledging its discontinuities and its history of incremental change. In doing so, it aligns with the Brighton’s Cultural Framework, which calls for a more ambitious approach to design and a willingness to treat heritage as a basis for innovation.’
Practice director David Kohn said: ‘Brighton’s success as a city has been built on its capacity to accommodate difference and to support forms of cultural production that do not easily fit within conventional frameworks.
‘The same applies to Shrigley’s approach as an artist, and it has been an enormous pleasure to work alongside him once again on this project.
‘It is absolutely fitting that his new studio should stand as a small but deliberate act of resistance to standardisation, using design to introduce ambiguity, humour and a degree of creative tension into the urban environment.”
Shrigley commented: ‘Being able to buy and develop a place of my own has made a huge difference to how I work. I am looking to expand upon this and create a space that is efficient and can live on past its current shape.
‘Having a permanent home in Kemptown gives me the space to develop new work, care for the archive, and for my team to work on local and international projects. Kemptown is a place defined by its diversity and sense of community, and I’ve been lucky to build genuine connections throughout my time here.’
He added: ‘This project is about creating a space where the studio can continue to experiment and develop, while staying connected to the area.
‘To be able to collaborate on this project with such an innovative architectural practice as David Kohn Architects has been an exciting and rewarding opportunity. Over time, I hope it becomes something that endures both as a working studio and as part of a wider legacy.’
Kohn and Shrigley previously worked together in 2023 on the Stephen Friedman Gallery in Cork Street, London.
