Architecture studio Youssofzay + Hart has constructed a series of interconnected rooms using materials found in hardware stores for a temporary exhibition space in Australia that can be easily dismantled and adapted.

Titled No Show, the exhibition space was located in the heritage-listed old Eveleigh Railway Workshops – now known as Carriageworks – and constructed using a collection of modular steel structures lined in panels of acoustic felt.

Three rows of connected spaces were used to house 11 artist-run initiatives within the Carriageworks hall.

The modular steel frame structures were designed to provide the intimacy of small rooms, while also referencing the industrial nature of the exhibition's setting. Materials for the project were sourced from a local suburban hardware store.

Youssofzay + Hart's design, which has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of Dezeen Awards 2021, intends to highlight and promote the reuse and repurposing of materials.

Steel frames were organised in a crisscrossing formation, with some clad in panels of acoustic felt that provided grey backdrops on which to display artworks.

The configuration, organisation and proportions of each of the temporary exhibition "rooms" were informed by the venue's existing architectural elements, including the walls, columns and doorways of the industrial warehouse.

In places, the acoustic felt panels were cropped to frame viewpoints and sightlines between different exhibition spaces.

The felted panels also created flexibility for the temporary exhibition space, as each panel could be easily moved to better suit the placement of the exhibited artworks.

By using materials that are readily available and can be sourced from local hardware stores, Youssofzay + Hart aimed to create an exhibition design that can be scaled, deconstructed, reconfigured and adapted to suit the needs of different exhibitions and events.

The project has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of Dezeen Awards 2021. Other projects shortlisted in the category include Studio 10's design for the Fashioned from Nature exhibition.

Photography is by Zan Wimberley.