Wood Finch Rare Books
Interior fit-out for specialist rare book seller, London W1.
In collaboration with Marcus Bergström, Summer 2009 - Spring 2010
Project to provide a flexible exhibition space & a bookshop / library for a rare books seller in central London. As the premises were rented on a short lease, an economical but effective solution which only touched the building fabric lightly was required.
In the gallery, screens were hung onto wall mounted rails to provide a flat lining across the different planes of the existing room. Brackets on either side of the windows allow the screens to continue across if necessary to provide more display area in the relatively small space. The height of the screens were set to allow daylight into the room even if the windows are covered.
Carrying on the idea from the gallery & Paris Photo bookstand, the shelving in the library was designed as a wall-lining with shelves supplemented with vitrines & angled displays to show & store the valuable & often delicate collection of books, prints & artefacts.
By keeping the the front of the shelves consistent & taking advantage of the various niches & chimney breasts etc behind, different depth storage is created whilst giving a consistent face to the walls of the room. By not extending the shelving to the floor or the ceiling, the extent of the room can still be read & daylight is allowed in at the windows.
