Pallant House is a
Grade I listed Queen Anne townhouse built in 1712 for wine merchant Henry "Lisbon" Peckham and his wife Elizabeth. It is a fine, brick-built building with large windows, with stone
ostriches from the Peckham family arms guarding the entrance gateway, and a fine oak staircase inside. Its urbane design from a London architect was the subject of a
suit in Chancery, for William Smart, mason of Chichester, provided a design about 1711, but the Peckhams went to London and obtained another design, designated "the London modell" in court papers. The architect was not identified. The building had been used as council offices since 1919. The building was restored in 1979, and the gallery opened in 1982. It has been managed by an independent trust since 1985. A new wing was opened in June 2006, designed by
Sir Colin Wilson and
Long & Kentish. The £8.6 million project was funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund,
Arts Council England, the local council, and other donors. The unashamedly modern block, which stands next to and integrates with the original Queen Anne building, won the 2007
Gulbenkian Prize; in the words of the judges, the juxtaposition creates "a vibrant relationship between old and new ... continued in a series of inspired contemporary installations" which are housed within. The extension was also listed for a 2007
RIBA award. It is believed to be the first art gallery in the UK which is heated and cooled by a
geothermal system, using water pumped through 69 pipes descending 35 metres under the building, connected to reversible
heat pumps, which roughly halves its carbon emissions. To the rear is a new courtyard garden, designed by
Christopher Bradley-Hole, a
Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist. ==Notes==