ELIZABETH AKERMAN

Glassworks

Glassworks is a publicly accessible glass art centre with workshop space, a gallery, shop and café. It is located at 34-40 Burton St, Darlinghurst, to serve the East Sydney community. It sits amongst other art galleries in a developing cultural precinct, and aims to revitalise the area.

The purpose of the centre is to provide infrastructure and access to facilities for glass artists and students, for the production of high quality and innovative glass art. The centre also aims to educate visitors about the properties of glass by allowing them to view artists at work. The glassmaking process is a fascinating one to watch as glass is transformed from liquid to solid.

Light and heat are two elements that are central to the use of glass in a building. Therefore the design explores the way that light can be filtered through glass to great effect. The way that heat can be transferred throughout the building to achieve thermal comfort has also been considered.

Through its transparent, translucent, and reflective properties, glass is a highly expressive medium that responds to changing light conditions as well as the position of the viewer. Hence different types of glass have been employed within the design in a range of applications, to showcase its versatility.

PROJECT TYPE: Glass Art Centre
CLIENT: Craft Australia
SITE (address): 34 - 40 Burton St, Darlinghurst
Contact detail: LIZ.AKERMAN@GMAIL.COM