Greenland Street in the Baltic Triangle, Liverpool, involved the refurbishment of an existing industrial unit to provide a new entrance and cafe to act as a cultural hub for the surrounding gallery spaces. The change of use to a public building required the resolution of level changes to provide level access throughout and to make the building inclusive and accessible. The offer also provided an exciting new arts venue, which would be the location for Biennial exhibitions.

Our solution was to introduce a new trapezoidal entrance within the large-scale industrial doors to provide a lobbied entrance and to funnel people in through a set of automatic glazed doors. The walls were clad with thick felt which not only provided a tactile surface upon arrival, heightening the sensory experience, but also helps to improve reverberation within the shed-like space beyond. Level issues were resolved by the introduction of a long ramp which also provided access to new toilets. The central space held the cafe and used a simple palette of colours within the existing walls of the building.