A metal tunnel guides visitors from underground into a lofty exhibition hall within a tram depot at the Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent, which was designed by French architecture practice Studio KO in Uzbekistan's capital.

Commissioned by the chair of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), Gayane Umerova, the Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA Tashkent) was designed as a landmark to amplify the city's cultural visibility.

CCA Tashkent has opened in Uzbekistan

CCA Tashkent spans two ornamental yellow-brick buildings, designed in 1912 by architect Wilhelm Heinzelmann. One was an administration building, and the other was a tram depot and diesel station, where residual oily scents still permeate its brick walls.

Studio KO designed the heart of the project in the tall, industrial hall of the diesel station, which is lined with high-level windows and its original brick walls.

A tunnel leads up into the main exhibition space

The team compared this space to a cathedral, or its own version of the Turbine Hall at London's Tate Modern.

"It was already very monumental, almost like a basilica with its proportions," Studio KO director Olivier Marty told Dezeen on a tour of the building. "We remained very faithful to it."

Now open to the public, CCA Tashkent will serve as a hub for cultural exhibitions, education and research.

Visitors enter from the old administration building, which has been converted into a reception, gift shop and offices for staff. On its top level is a skylit library with a snug for listening to records. These spaces are yet to be photographed.

It occupies a diesel station

The shell of this building was transformed and expanded through the insertion of a blocky, self-supporting volume, which appears to swell out from the old brick structure, breaking open one of its corners.

This new geometric volume deliberately contrasts with the existing fabric, cloaked with chunky gravel used locally to mix concrete, and finished with a glossy varnish.

A blocky extension has been added to one of the buildings. Photo by Lizzie Crook

From the reception, a statement helical staircase winds down below ground into the first gallery space, described by Marty as an "anteroom" to the main space. From here, visitors are guided through a dark metal-lined tunnel that opens into the basement of the diesel station.

This area contains a second exhibition area, alongside bleacher-like seating that doubles as a staircase to the main hall, running beneath a cubic auditorium suspended overhead.

Bleacher-like seating links two galleries

This sequence leads from a dark, low-lying space into the bright, spacious main hall, creating an unexpected shift in atmosphere that emphasises the room's stateliness.

Above, the technical services are left exposed, accentuating the hall's industrial feel.

"This area is interesting as it is where you understand the monumentality of [the main hall]," Marty reflected.

"The other spaces obviously have their own sort of scenery, but this space is comparable to something like the Turbine Hall – a slightly smaller version – and that was intended," added chief curator Sara Raza.

The seating doubles as a staircase

Material contrasts feature throughout the project, with steely metal panels lining the auditorium walls and the tunnel, creating a juxtaposition with the original brickwork.

Several wooden details add warmth, complemented by dark and earthy terrazzo that envelops several walls and floors as an homage to Soviet-era modernism, according to Marty.

"The contemporary interventions are designed to be legible as an extreme contrast with the existing fabric of the building," explained the architect.

A metal-lined auditorium is suspended in the diesel station

The large windows lining the building are coated with a purple-coloured filter, which is only visible from the outside.

At the end of the journey through the structures, visitors are guided out to a large open-air courtyard that serves as an additional exhibition space.

It is hugged by sweeping walls, also finished in the dark, shiny gravel, which frame a restaurant, an adaptable workshop space for children and a prayer room. These spaces are also yet to be photographed.

Read: Lina Ghotmeh set to turn historic Uzbeki house into Jadids' Legacy Museum

According to Marty, the courtyard is modelled on a "contemporary version of a traditional mahala" – a traditional type of residential Uzbek neighbourhood arranged around courtyards.

This was an effort to establish the outdoor area as its own space, which reads as separate from the buildings without competing or feeling secondary to them.

"It was very hard to imagine a courtyard between those two very strong buildings," he explained. "We didn't want to mimic the bricks, we needed to be honest in the modern edition and to create something that doesn't compete with it."

Wooden details help warm the industrial feel of the space

The building has opened with an exhibition titled Hikmah, curated by Raza, showcasing works by 10 artists. The furniture used throughout is a bespoke set of modular metal-and-wooden pieces designed by Studio KO.

Other major architecture projects underway in Uzbekistan include Lina Gotmeh's transformation of a historic home in Bukhara into the Jadids' Legacy Museum and Tadao Ando's National Museum of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

In July, 10 of Tashkent's key modernist buildings were listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, making them some of the youngest structures on the list.

The photography is by Dan Glasser unless stated otherwise.

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