Moving day finally came!
On the 13th July 2016 we moved in to our beautiful new Artists
Centre, funded in large part by Creative Scotland, now aptly named the Jacobs Building after Cove Park’s founders Eileen
and Peter Jacobs. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks unpacking, settling in
and getting to know the place; there are a lot more rooms and doors than we’re
used to!
At the heart of the new building is a welcoming communal space - the
Snug and adjoining kitchen - for the resident artists and visitors to meet, relax
in, read, cook or simply enjoy the stunning views. One wall is beautifully
decorated with a flight of Swallows, a piece by our very own Craft Producer and
ceramicist Dawn Youll.
In addition we now have a 79sq meter room named The Monument Trust
Room (named after one of our major funders), with wooden floors designed with group activity, movement, screenings and
presentations in mind, the 40 sq meter Robertson Room (named after our other major funder and in which we have been
had several dinners for over 30 guests), a Library and IT area. These extra
facilities allow the building to offer much more in the way of flexible spaces,
able to perform multiple functions at any one time.
We also have two new units of accommodation and two new studios at
the top of the site, increasing our capacity to accommodate twelve residents on
site at any one time.
While the centre is new and impressive it still seems to have
retained the old Cove Park charm, which has much to do with CameronWebster
Architects’s sensitive design of the interior space, and windows that cleverly
frame the rural landscape that surrounds the site.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank architects Cameron Webster, Clark Contracts, our Quantity
Surveyor Doig & Smith, Project Manager Catharine Kidd and all involved in
this ambitious project. Without the support of Creative Scotland, many trusts,
foundations and individuals it would not have been possible, and we are hugely grateful.
Images by Ruth Clark.