HdM Gallery

HdM Gallery is located in the 798 Art District, a dynamic part of Beijing’s cultural landscape, named after the 798 Factory of the 1950s, a former electronics complex which was transformed into a vibrant hub for contemporary art and culture in the early 2000s. The gallery is housed in a repurposed factory building and integrated into the thriving artistic community supporting Western artists with a special focus on contemporary Chinese art – both established and emerging.

Sybarite architects were invited by the gallery owners to reimagine the space, its intrinsic vision and functionality, as an international gallery supporting art with a strong Chinese DNA.

“The overarching concept was to focus on preserving the existing building’s inherent sense of solidity and texture, with interiors celebrating the characteristic and founded rawness of both materiality and form. From the outset, there was a desire to create a delicate yet impactful juxtaposition between the existing architecture and any infused newness”. – Torquil McIntosh, Co-Founder, Sybarite

The relationship between exterior and interior is carefully differentiated in the framed moment of arrival set to elegantly draw one into the interior. This is forged by a cohesive connection, that is immediately created in the single gesture of an aluminium tongue – grounded from the floor and continuing upwards to blend and manifest in a slick reflective front desk.

“Sybarite’s vision was an exercise in purposefully pure and minimal detailing and the creation of beautifully contemporary and balanced framing which captures an element of detachment from the existing structure, and which provides a clean backdrop to showcase a diverse range of art”. – Torquil McIntosh, Co-Founder, Sybarite

The core material palette is a play on textures and tones of greys and whites, with highlights of metallic silvers both brushed and polished seen in conjunction with a hierarchy of light effects -both shadowless and focal.

The functionality and agility of the space was a key consideration to support different configurations for the artwork displays as well as providing spaces for private moments of contemplation and conversation.