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Borgos Dance: William Tozer, ‘Louise T Blouin Institute: West London,’
Detail,
English edition
(January/February 2007): 14–15.
[Copyright image removed. Refer print version in UCL library.]
The Louise T Blouin Institute is a new privately-funded arts and cultural space in west London.
The project was initiated by French Canadian Arts Publisher Louise T Blouin McBain, and
designed by architects Borgos Dance.
Simon Dance and Etienne Borgos founded their practice in 2001 after working in the offices of
minimalist John Pawson and the high-tech Norman Foster respectively. The influence of both
practices is evident in the projects of Borgos Dance, but their work has a distinct character of its
own and clearly draws from a broader frame of reference. They currently have offices in both
London and Barcelona and their practice encompasses architecture, interiors, and furniture.
They commenced work on the Louise T Blouin Institute in 2004 after previously designing a
number of art fair exhibition stands and then offices for her publishing company, LTB Media.
The building occupies an Edwardian warehouse on a site sandwiched between council housing
and a busy highway. While this location might seem an appropriately marginalised location for a
gallery, this is a well-connected arts institution and its location also registers this in its proximity
to the affluent areas of Notting Hill and Holland Park. Previous occupations of the site have
included the manufacturing of coaches for London’s royals and aristocrats and car bodies for
Rolls Royce, and more recently offices for design and advertising companies.
Load-bearing masonry piers and arches over the windows have been rebuilt to reorder the
façade. This reordering is to some extent simply a rationalization of the modifications carried out
to the building through its various occupations, but it could also be understood as an attempt to
maximize the building’s iconic appearance as industrial architecture. This symbolism of industry
is clearly a more important allusion for this new arts institute than the messiness of the
intervening occupations. On the interior these window openings are treated in an even more
iconic fashion, reduced to abstract shapes in the massive and planar envelope of the building.
This is facilitated by the internal lining of the building to accommodate concealed insulation, air-
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