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Designs for Barbara Hepworth's studio unveiled

Bowness A black and white photograph showing Barbara Hepworth on the dance floor of the Palais de Danse in March 1961 with sculptures throughout the roomBowness
Adam Khan Architects An architect's drawing of the restored dance hall of the Palais de Danse which shows a group of visitors watching a black and white film of Barbara HepworthAdam Khan Architects
Barbara Hepworth pictured among her sculptures inside the Palais de Danse in March 1961
The former dance hall was bought by the sculptor in 1961 as her second studio

Plans for the restoration of one of sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth's studios have been unveiled.

Tate St Ives has revealed the first stage designs for the transformation of the Palais de Danse.

Dame Barbara bought the Grade II listed former cinema and dance hall in St Ives in 1961 to use as her second studio. It was donated to the Tate by the Hepworth family in 2015.

The Palais de Danse will be converted by Adam Khan Architects to be used for art, performances and events, Tate St Ives said.

Bowness A black and white photograph of Barbara Hepworth working in the Palais de Danse on the prototype for Single Form for the United Nations in January 1961. The prototype is a large flat shape on the floor which she is crouching over. Bowness
Barbara Hepworth created the prototype for Single Form for the United Nations in the Palais de Danse in January 1961

Anne Barlow, director of Tate St Ives, said: “The Palais de Danse played an important role in Hepworth’s international artistic career as well as in the local history of the St Ives community.

"In bringing it back to life, we want to honour that rich history and realise its immense potential for local residents, visitors, and a new generation of artists.”

The lower floor will feature information and objects about Dame Barbara's life and art.

The grid-marked floor still bears the outline of Single Form, the sculpture she created for the United Nations HQ in New York.

Tate St Ives said the outline would be preserved and surrounded by artefacts, objects and tools from her time at the Palais in a recreation of her working studio.

Adam Khan Architects An architect's drawing of a workshop taking place in the new creative studio and yard of the Palais de DanseAdam Khan Architects
The yard outside the Palais where Barbara Hepworth made the prototype for her sculpture Winged Figure will be open to the public for the very first time, Tate St Ives said

The upper floor will contain the newly restored dance hall, with its 24-metre sprung maple floor, stage, and recreated glassine screens designed by the sculptor herself.

This will be used for new artistic installations and performances, as well as hosting community events and talks.

Architect Adam Khan said: “The transformed Palais de Danse will offer a new typology – an overlapping mix of working studio, sculpture gallery, and performance space – inspired by Hepworth’s own experimental practice on this site.

"We are privileged to be able to preserve and add to those layers of history which this very special building has accumulated over the past century.”

Outside the Palais, the yard, where Dame Hepworth made the prototype for her sculpture Winged Figure, will be opened to the public for the first time, Tate St Ives said.

A creative studio will host sculpture workshops and artist residencies.

New visitor facilities, including a lift, will make the Palais publicly accessible for the first time in more than 50 years, the gallery added.

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