A Crafted Reworking – ArtBank by Edition Office

As a recalibration exercise, ArtBank is an existing storage facility for contemporary art reworked through a heightening of detail, amenity and a considered series of insertions. Edition Office takes cues from the lineage of the site and its purpose storing years of contemporary Australian art to propose an aptly fitting and crafted space.

Located in Collingwood, the revised ArtBank facility is imagined as a changed experiential immersion, within the housing of the extensive contemporary art collection, differing from a more expected approach. Elevating the traditional means by which such storage spaces are engaged with, Edition Office aims to embed shared principles of craft and the handmade into the insertions, which then support the amenity of the space and how visitors move through the volumes. Previously an old factory, the new space combines one-part gallery and another with the contemporary collection itself, allowing an engagement between the two. Previously located elsewhere, the relocation of ArtBank closer to the arts community within Melbourne aims to expand on the interaction with the pieces and the artists, while also enhancing exposure.

The unrefined nature of the built elements offers a natural balance to the carefully and endlessly laboured artworks, highlighting their distinctions.

Built by Basis Builders, the shell of the existing industrial space is transformed internally, lit from above from the existing clerestory opening, bringing with it natural southern light. The play on contrasts within the space creates a moody sensibility, enhanced by the select textures and interplay with the elements within the space. A heightening of the experience is created through a departure for the traditional gallery and its associated lighting, which instead allows the pieces to come alive as a natural interaction with the light existing in the space at any one time. There is a cavernous quality to the volume that speaks to an inquisitive sense of adventure and discovery of each piece, further engaging the visitor.

The collection spans some 39 years of contemporary Australian art practice, and the relocating of it closer to central Melbourne is envisioned to allow increased exposure and associated inspiration. An artist’s studio and other supporting amenity and transport facilities also share the space, each with their own respectful placement. In the space’s lofted vastness, there is a calming quiet created and felt. A palette of unrefined features sees the existing concrete floor set the tone for the raw mild steel, form plywood and industrial hardwood ply to then coexist in such a balanced way. The unrefined nature of the built elements offers a natural balance to the carefully and endlessly laboured artworks, highlighting their distinctions.

There is a cavernous quality to the space that speaks to an inquisitive sense of adventure and discovery of each piece, further engaging the visitor.

Edition Office has carefully interwoven shared principles of the importance of endurance and the handmade. As a result, ArtBank beautifully brings the elements of an existing space narrative together with an important collection to an accessible level.