Frogmore & Galliard Homes has unveiled the new David Bailey art gallery lobby at The Chilterns in Marylebone – the first London art gallery in a private luxury apartment building.
The new lobby showcases specially commissioned works by world renowned photographer David Bailey. (see below).
Developed by Frogmore, Galliard Homes & CJ O Shea, The Chilterns at 24 Paddington Street provides 44 luxury residences designed by world-renowned architects Squire & Partners, and with specification and interior design by international designer Rabih Hage.
The new art gallery forms part of the striking lobby of the building; created in association with David Bailey, and it is one of the most exciting and unique features of The Chilterns. The new art space consists of a main lobby area leading into a long gallery, specially designed to showcase David Bailey’s work, with sleek white walls, polished floors and a 16 ft high ceiling. The lighting scheme is highly advanced with a combination of mood lighting and ceiling directional lights with powerful beams which illuminate Bailey’s artwork.
Personally curated by David Bailey, the new gallery displays 19 new large scale pieces by David Bailey, creating a showcase of his work in the lobby where it will remain in perpetuity for all the residents and guests of The Chilterns to enjoy.
The developers wanted to create a foyer in the building which served as both a private art gallery for residents and a striking entrance to this most luxurious of buildings. They wanted to commission artwork for the foyer from an artist who “personified London” and there was really only one man to court: David Bailey.
One of the developers, Stephen Conway, Chief Executive Officer of Galliard Homes, met with David Bailey at his studio and they swapped stories of the London’s East End in the 1960s (where both grew up) which involved a chat about who was “harder up” back then.
David Bailey liked the commission concept and saw the potential. To produce his take on Marylebone and Chiltern Street, with the project starting a good year before the now famous Chiltern Firehouse Hotel opened its doors.
Bailey took 46 photographs of the locale, one each for each apartment resident and the 19 large scale pieces to be displayed in the new art gallery lobby. The work includes views of Regency architecture, the BBC HQ, Baker Street Underground Station, Regent’s Park and the boating lake. The David Bailey images for The Chilterns gallery document an area undergoing massive change, but with the eye of a true master – display moments in time that could be from any of the last 200 years in this famous enclave.
The 46 specially commissioned photos have also been developed into a book. Each owner of an apartment at The Chilterns will be given a framed original David Bailey print from this series, together with a copy of the book.
Commenting on the project Bailey said: “To write about Marylebone you must live there. It is easy for me to write about the East End, but I know hardly anything about Marylebone. It first came to my attention because of my fascination with books. Daunts bookshop was my introduction to the area, did it mean more people read books in Marylebone than East Ham? The next connection was The Wallace Collection. I never thought of it being anywhere but behind Selfridges with its wonderful clock.”
He added: “Marylebone seems to have an abundance of goodies from a great fish and chip shop to Wigmore Hall, Damien Hirst’s office and shop. In fact the full gambit. The best way to see a place is to photograph it. You don’t always see a place, a person, a park until you look at a photograph. So the new collection of work at The Chilterns provides my modest look at Marylebone. Keep looking until you really begin to see.”
Stephen Conway, Chief Executive Officer of Galliard Homes, said: “This is the first London art gallery with works by a world renowned photographer to be showcased within a private residential development, featuring specially commissioned works by international photographer David Bailey. The new art gallery lobby is one of the most exciting and unique features of The Chilterns. The project highlights the close interplay between London’s luxury property sector and the art world. New buildings and homes have spaces ideal for artwork, so new developments like this help to drive the market for new works of art and important existing pieces.”
The new mixed-use building at The Chilterns provides landmark architecture within a contemporary seven-storey glass and stone façade. Details include a striking stepped roofline, floor to ceiling windows with sun-shielding feature louvres, rooftop terraces and glass-fronted balconies.
Alongside the 44 luxury residences there will be a new signature restaurant; private gymnasium and sauna; private cinema; wine cellars with wine tasting room; underground parking and 24-hour hotel style concierge: forming the finest new address in London’s West End.
The residences at The Chilterns were launched in October 2013 and rapidly sold off-plan. Now with The Chilterns more than 95% build complete, the final phase of three residences have been released for sale with prices starting from £3.8 million. Final build completion scheduled for the summer of 2016 when the new apartment building and David Bailey art gallery will be opened and ready for residents and visitors to view.
