Image: Archival film of Barbara Hepworth in the restored dance hall of the Palais de Danse (Adam Khan Architects)
The project aims to transform Hepworth’s former studio into a multi-purpose venue for artistic and community events while preserving its unique features and history
Tate St Ives has revealed a first look at plans to conserve the Palais de Danse, Barbara Hepworth’s former studio in St Ives, Cornwall.
Once complete, the hall will be used for new artistic commissions, installations and performances, as well as hosting community events and talks.
The Grade II-listed building opened as St Ives’ first cinema in 1911, became a dance hall in 1925, and was bought by Barbara Hepworth in 1961 to use as her second studio.
Having remained untouched since Hepworth’s death in 1975, the Palais was given to Tate by the artist’s estate in 2015, just as the neighbouring Trewyn Studio had been given to Tate in 1980 as the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. Together these buildings were home to the entire scope of Hepworth’s creative work from 1949 to 1975.
The space has been redesigned by Adam Khan Architects’, and initial designs show the preservation of the unique features of the space, such as the grid-marked floor bearing the outline of Hepworth’s ‘Single Form’ sculpture.
On the lower floor, Hepworth’s workshops will become spaces to learn about her life and art.
The upper floor will contain the newly restored dance hall, with its 24-metre sprung maple floor, stage, and recreated glassine screens designed by Hepworth herself.
A new lift and staircase will make the whole building accessible to all, including the balcony overlooking the hall and the projection room where as-found 1930s graffiti can still be seen.
Outside the Palais is a yard where Hepworth made larger prototypes of her sculptures and engaged the St Ives community to help transport the finished pieces to their final destinations.
This will now be opened to the public for the very first time, alongside a creative studio to support a new programme of making activities and sculpture workshops.
“The Palais de Danse played an important role in Hepworth’s international artistic career as well as in the local history of the St Ives community,” said Anne Barlow, Director of Tate St Ives.
“In bringing it back to life, we want to honour that rich history and realise its immense potential for local residents, visitors, and a new generation of artists.”
Architect Adam Khan added: “The transformed Palais de Danse will offer a new typology – an overlapping mix of working studio, sculpture gallery, and performance space – inspired by Hepworth’s own experimental practice on this site. We are privileged to be able to preserve and add to those layers of history which this very special building has accumulated over the past century.”
