The Garden Museum in Lambeth boasts more than 200 square metres of new space after architects redesigned the interior of the building, including a new position for the permanent gallery and creative areas over two levels.

Director Christopher Woodward was behind the modernisation plans, more than 30 years after the gallery was established as part of an heroic volunteers’ campaign to rescue the ancient church of St Mary’s.

“The interior of the old church is a beautiful space,” explained Woodward. “It was an attractive venue for events and a backdrop to the popular café.

“But it did not work as a museum. It was too bright, too dusty and too open to the weather for the displays of works of art, or to borrow pictures or drawings for exhibitions.”

		The new-look museum features two floors of space

Dow Jones architects were commissioned to carry out the rejuvenation of the site after winning a competition last year, and their creations are aimed at providing space for a variety of events, with the aim of becoming a hub for garden design in London.

“We thought of the new building as a Belvedere, a raised platform from which to view the landscape of the existing building as a way of giving a new perspective onto an existing space,” they recall.

A stair leading to the modest permanent exhibition on the first floor wraps around existing church columns, fashioned to “engage with the comings and goings of the exhibition on a lively and theatrical way.” Their Swiss timber structure, which is made of 423 trees, presents some of the 9,000 objects in the museum’s collection in a minimalist style.

The downstairs collection has opened with a retrospective tracing five decades of work by influential gardener Beth Chatto as part of a new philosophy for the gallery, aiming to study contemporary garden makers.

“After three months’ closure and an intensive period spent building our new interior and preparing our new exhibitions, it has been extremely gratifying to receive such positive reactions during our first few days,” said curator Mary Guyatt.

“Visitors have commented on the strength of the architecture, the celebration of the permanent collection and the intimate atmosphere created within the Beth Chatto exhibition.”