Founders of Lime Green, brothers James and Simon Ayres, are delighted to hear that one of the many projects they\u2019ve been involved in has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK\u2019s best new building.<\/p>\n
Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall, famous for it\u2019s Damien Hirst Exhibition, involved the conversion of a terrace of listed industrial buildings, formerly used as workshops for theatre carpentry and scenery painting.<\/p>\n
Forming the whole length of the street, the gallery, designed by the Caruso St John Architects team, comprises three listed Victorian buildings flanked at either end by new builds. The floors within the buildings are continuous allowing them to be used flexibly to accommodate large and smaller exhibitions.<\/p>\n
Lime Green\u2019s lime mortars, produced in Shropshire, were used for the spiral staircase and external brickwork. The judges praised the approach to conservation on the project, marrying the host older terraces and the new buildings and called the staircases, for which Lime Green\u2019s Natural Lime Mortar was used, \u201coutrageously virtuosic\u201d. They also praised the \u201cstrong sense of traditional craftsmanship using contemporary technologies,\u201d something the Lime Green team are also passionate about. The same mortar was also used for building and pointing, in different colours outside (to match existing mortar) and inside (to match the bricks in the staircase).<\/p>\n