Wynne Gallery, Stowe School
MICA were commissioned by Stowe School on behalf of the David Wynne Trust, to rejuvenate their gallery space to display key works and archive material of the renowned 20th Century British sculptor David Wynne. The project is one of series celebrating the centenary of the founding of the school in 1923, including the restoration of the lost Headmaster’s Roxburgh Garden by the modernist landscape architect Brenda Colvin.The David Wynne Gallery forms part of MICA's long-standing programme of work for Stowe School, extending more than twenty-five years of collaboration across architecture, conservation, landscape and estate masterplanning. Commissioned by Stowe School on behalf of the David Wynne Trust, the project celebrates one of Britain's most distinguished twentieth-century sculptors and former pupils, creating a permanent gallery that reconnects his artistic legacy with the place that inspired it.
Delivered as part of the School's centenary celebrations, alongside the restoration of Brenda Colvin's lost Roxburgh Garden, the gallery forms a key element of a wider cultural programme that celebrates the history, creativity and continuing evolution of the Stowe estate.
Integrating Art into Everyday Life
Located within the historic mansion, the gallery occupies a sequence of interconnected spaces known as Plug Street, one of the principal routes through Stowe House linking the Welcome Centre, Sir John Soane's library and the Headmaster's Office. Rather than creating a conventional gallery, MICA transformed this everyday circulation route into a carefully curated exhibition experience, integrating art into the daily life of the school while enriching the visitor journey through the house.
A Restrained Architectural Intervention
The design is characterised by restraint. Existing visual clutter was removed, services were discreetly integrated behind fine white mesh screens, and a flexible museum-quality lighting system introduced to create a calm and coherent setting for sculpture, archive material and interpretation. A continuous family of carefully detailed plinths unifies the four gallery spaces, allowing Wynne's work to be experienced within a sequence of niches, arches and changing spatial conditions that reveal new relationships between sculpture, architecture and movement.
Curating the Story of David Wynne
The exhibition unfolds through four thematic chapters—Introduction, Biography, Making and Legacy—tracing Wynne's artistic development from his formative years at Stowe to his internationally recognised career. The gallery complements the wider sculpture trail across the historic landscape, creating a dialogue between the intimate scale of drawings, maquettes and archive material within the house and the monumental bronzes displayed throughout the gardens.
Cultural Placemaking Through Adaptation
The project demonstrates MICA's holistic approach to cultural placemaking, where architecture, collections and interpretation are considered together. By carefully adapting an existing historic interior rather than creating a standalone gallery, the project reveals the potential of underused spaces to enrich learning, celebrate artistic heritage and strengthen the cultural identity of the wider estate.
