What happened to Cromwell Place? The South Kensington commercial gallery and temporary exhibition hub opened in 2020, promising a shiny alternative to traditional models. The idea generated excitement among the cultural crowd but, come 2025, the reported £20m+ project is beginning to look like a misguided experiment.
There was already some confusion over its business model—a hybrid membership scheme and rooms-for-hire structure. Meanwhile, its location, while in a chic part of town and spitting distance from the V&A, does not offer the walking-distance-from-Claridge’s appeal of Mayfair. The anchor tenant, the New York and Seoul gallery Lehmann Maupin, helped legitimate its offering, while other exhibitors over the years have included Vigo Gallery and (via a partnership) Abu Dhabi art fair galleries.
Signs that all wasn’t going to plan had emerged by 2023, when holding company Corylos went into liquidation and majority shareholder, Toby Anstruther, chair of property management group South Kensington Estates, explained to members that their agreements had transferred to his new company, Cromwell Place Ltd.
The noises were still optimistic: a new chief executive, the respected curator and Turner-prize judge Helen Nisbet, was brought in, promising a rejuvenated focus on artists. A subsequent £2m refurbishment was announced, including an 80-seater restaurant and a more visible and accessible entrance.
Fast-forward a year and Nisbet and many in her team were gone, while the refurbishment means that all the gallery spaces are closed, officially “until spring”. Anstruther isn’t saying much; signs outside the buildings still offer “stylish galleries and offices for rent” but tellingly also to “host your event in our beautiful space”.
This “rooms for hire” angle was confirmed in an Instagram post from Cromwell Place yesterday, which heralds “a renewed focus on hospitality” (artists are so last year) and the promise of “a brand new restaurant with a new menu, a new name, and refreshed interiors”.
Reasons for a change in direction seem manifold. The Covid-19 pandemic clearly didn’t help, though ultimately it was the relatively far-flung location that was the problem for the calibre of galleries Cromwell Place had in its sights. Its size too, with 15 exhibition spaces, additional offices and plenty of storage, was likely too big in this rarified field.
Competition came in the much smaller and more central form of Frieze’s three-gallery No. 9 Cork Street, which opened in 2021 and has the added benefit of its prestigious art fair brand. Lehmann Maupin made its priorities clear this year with back-to-back exhibitions, including one of Billy Childish, at No. 9 and confirms its relationship with Cromwell Place ended in December. Meanwhile, overseas galleries that want a London presence have the opportunity of much cheaper collaborative events, such as Condo.
So what now? While Cromwell Place stands as a sorry sight during its current revamp, the carefully renovated, listed Georgian townhouses are indeed extremely stylish and beautiful. And on a recent Friday afternoon, its café was booked out with a mix of cultural tourists and local ladies who lunch.
Anstruther points out that the business has ongoing relationships with the Brompton Design District and London Craft Week in May, which seem more in tune with the V&A spillover. It won’t be a disrupter to London’s art market scene, but there may still be something to be salvaged from Cromwell Place.
