Meet the carpenters behind London’s new art Mecca

Carpenters Workshop Gallery has brought together some of the world’s greatest creative minds

“It’s the perfect playground,” Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s Loïc Le Gaillard bellows over the clamour of hammer and drill. Hard hat in hand, he gestures towards the entrance of Ladbroke Hall, the 1903 Grade II-listed building in London’s Notting Hill that was originally home to the Sunbeam Talbot Motor Company. “We’re building a community for creatives and locals,” he continues. “Anyone who wants to stretch artistic expression will be welcome here.” This is Le Gaillard and co-founder Julien Lombrail’s magnum opus. The childhood friends bought the property four years ago and initiated building work that will transform it into their London flagship – a major new hub for the arts, which will open in spring 2023 at a cost of around £30mn.

But the pair have not taken this journey alone, having pulled together a band of artists and designers to help conceive their creative utopia. Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye has been overseeing the metamorphosis on the gallery side of the building, while Italian architect and artist Vincenzo De Cotiis, along with French designer-artist Michèle Lamy, have taken care of its hospitality zone. Adjaye will debut new furniture in a solo show when Ladbroke Hall opens in the spring, while a second opening show – introducing a new department at the gallery and its expansion into vintage works – will also display pieces by the late Brazilian architect José Zanine Caldas.