The building is located near the old town, in the historic Leys Market district. There are warehouses and office buildings that appeared during the heyday of lace business here. The architects reflected the past of Nottingham in their project with great taste: they applied to the light green concrete panels of the facade a pattern of authentic, locally produced 19th century lace. The ornamental work typical of Caruso St John was carried out using plastic molds with a matrix of the corresponding pattern.
However, these laces, found several years ago in a "memorial capsule" during the construction of a supermarket, were a copy of the machine-made French handicraft: Nottingham was an industrial, not a craft center, which reached its peak in the 19th century. During the 20th century, it was in decline, which made it by the 2000s one of the most dangerous and poorest cities in the country. In the past decade, municipal authorities have been fighting this situation - and the resulting negative image of Nottingham - with public architecture projects, and the Center for Contemporary Art (CCAN, or Nottingham Contemporary) is one of them.
The center is located on a hill and is clearly visible from afar: for example, arriving in the city by rail. Its main volume, lined with slightly concave ornamented concrete panels, which, if we continue a series of textile associations, creates the effect of "scallops", is completed by two blocks of skylights, sheathed with sheets of gilded aluminum; these panels also have a concave profile.
An important feature of the building of the Center for Contemporary Art is its embeddedness in the relief; its section descends steeply (the height difference is 13 m), which was played up in the project. The main entrance is at the highest point, on the ground floor of the Center, and then the visitor goes down to the -1 and -2 floors.
The entrance leads into a small courtyard, partly hidden from the weather by the canopy of the hall door. Behind the lobby is a small lobby with a staircase leading down and access to galleries located on the same level, illuminated through glass ceilings and panoramic windows, offering views of Nottingham. On the floor below, there is a room for educational programs, the director's office and an archive. At the lowest level there is the most spacious room - a hall for performances (this genre of contemporary art has a rich history in the city), film screenings and other events; spectator seats can be removed there, which implies its maximum versatility. A café with a small outdoor terrace is located on the same floor. Thanks to a separate entrance, the cafe and the hall are independent of the opening hours of the entire Center.
