Feilden Fowles Architects in collaboration with Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects are leading the design of a new world-class culture and education centre in the unique landscape of the South Downs National Park for Eastbourne Borough Council and the Towner Gallery. The project aims to connect visitors with the landscape and heritage of the site’s remarkable agricultural Downland setting, through art in the landscape, exhibitions, creative events, learning and maker spaces. The proposals include a new gallery building, learning studios, events spaces, making spaces and a new refectory, with over 2000m2 of existing agricultural fabric being brought into new use. The project is funded through Eastbourne Borough Council’s successful £19.8 million bid to the government’s Levelling Up Fund.

Black Robin Farm, 2 miles West of Eastbourne, will consolidate the town’s position as the eastern gateway to the South Downs National Park, by creating a centre for education and culture that befits its special landscape setting and connects the South Downs National Park with the town centre and seafront. Run by the award-winning Towner Eastbourne.

The project is sited at Black Robin Farm, a working farmstead in a gentle valley within the exposed open landscape of the rolling South Downs. The farm offers stunning views out to Birling Gap and Beachy Head. The existing agricultural buildings date from the late 19th century and are arranged in archetypical E-plan formations around foldyards to protect animals from exposure to the harsh winds.

The farm was extended throughout the 20th century, giving rise to a tension between two different scales of built fabric, which creates dynamism on the site, and visually tells the story of the evolution of the farm and its landscape. The new proposals are derived from an exploration of these scales and a respect for the as-found agricultural character.

The new gallery building is located on the northern side of the track and is formed of three distinct gallery volumes, rendered in lime and flint. The monopitch roofs follow the fall of the land, provide north-lit galleries and optimal orientation for photovoltaic panels. The arrangement draws on the volumes of the grain silo and agricultural logic of single spaces performing single functions, and frames views westwards towards Birling Gap. The north-south axis also defines a large courtyard, sheltered from the strong prevailing westerly winds. Internally, the gallery spaces have been designed in collaboration with Towner to create flexible, simple and raw spaces for art; one of the galleries is designed as a climate-controlled space and the other two are designed to GIS standards.

The proposals target operational net zero by 2030, prioritising a fabric first approach. Photovoltaics will provide a source of renewable electricity whilst a ground source heat pump array will provide the main site with heating and the gallery with heating and cooling. An unfired brick labyrinth in the new Gallery will passively control the humidity levels in the intake air, reducing reliance on mechanical air handling. The combination of these approaches results in an energy target for the proposed gallery of 85kWh/m2 year, which would represent an exceptionally low demand compared with other major galleries.

Material re-use has been prioritised, with reclaimed brick, lime mortar, flint and landscape excavations forming a working palette born of the site itself.

With steep existing levels across the site offering almost no level access to buildings providing equal access to the landscape is a guiding principle of the proposals, which ensure that the main body of the site will be made fully accessible to both staff and visitors, with level access all the way to the farm’s threshold with surrounding rolling chalk landscape.

The proposed redevelopment replicates the north-south wings around an education yard and productive orchard. The new buildings carefully balance accessibility with vernacular principles, learning from careful study of the architecture of the buildings which are too dilapidated or inaccessible to retain. A variety of scales, materials and agricultural references connect the buildings, resulting in rich sensory experiences and connections to the South Downs.