Press Release | Internationally acclaimed architect Kulapat Yantrasast receives first UK commission at Goodwood Art Foundation

Goodwood Art Foundation today announces that internationally acclaimed architect and designer Kulapat Yantrasast, of WHY Architecture, has been appointed to transform Hathill House within the Foundation's 70-acre grounds. This is his first commission in the United Kingdom.

The project is much more than an addition to the arts destination, which opened to the public in May 2025. It will give Goodwood Art Foundation the power to broaden itspurpose, with a new intimate setting where exhibitions, social programming and new forms of learning about art and nature meet.

Built in 1975, Hathill House is a significant Modernist residence designed by F. Heather Hughes and John P. Lomax for the collector and developer Charles Kearley. It later became the home of the art patrons Wilfred and Jeannette Cass. The house was acquired in 2020 by the Goodwood estate, following Wilfred Cass’s death, as the first step towards the creation of the not-for-profit Goodwood Art Foundation. Its redevelopment marks a new chapter for the property, opening it up to the public for the first time. It will join the two existing galleries designed by Studio Downie Architects.

Set within the changing landscape of the Foundation's 70-acre Schwarzman Gardens, the new Hathill House will bring art, architecture and nature into close conversation. The designs span two floors and include elegant spaces for exhibitions, talks, lectures and events, along with a comprehensive art library. Together these will create a lively centre for thinking and making throughout the year. The work draws on Kulapat's long experience of turning historic buildings into generous and vibrant public places for cultures and people.

Kulapat Yantrasast said: “My first visit to Goodwood and Goodwood Art Foundation left an indelible impression. The place has a rare and singular quality. The sweeping landscape, the ancient flint walls, the wildflower meadows and the old woodland come together to make one of the most compelling settings for art within nature that I have found anywhere in the world. Goodwood's landscape changes with every season and becomes the great surrounding theatre, where the boundary between inside and outside disappears completely. I hope, at a time when people are looking again for meaning, connection and time outdoors, Hathill House will be a place to look closely, gather, learn and belong, as well as a place to see art. I am thrilled to join Goodwood Art Foundation at such a meaningful time in its story.”

The Duke of Richmond, Founder and Patron of Goodwood Art Foundation,
said: “Goodwood is known for its history, landscape, and enduring sense of place, and has long offered opportunities to experience art within a setting of extraordinary natural beauty. The opening of Goodwood Art Foundation in 2025 took our commitment to the visual arts to a new level. Now, the redevelopment of Hathill House represents an important next step, expanding our ability to present world-class art, grow our learning programmes, and create new spaces for dialogue, ideas, and cultural exchange.

“I am thrilled to have launched this venture, which forms a vital part of Goodwood’s 21st- century legacy. These exciting development plans will help us continue building a cultural destination that celebrates creativity, fosters learning, and inspires generations to come.”

Notes to editors

Bolton & Quinn
Jane Quinn/Susie Gault
jq@boltonquinn.com or susie@boltonquinn.com +44 (0)20 7221 5000

About Kulapat Yantrasast

Kulapat Yantrasast is the founder and creative director of WHY Architecture. The internationally recognised practice is known for shaping some of the world's most influential cultural institutions. Recent projects include the transformation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, which reopened in 2025, and major new cultural institutions including the Dib Contemporary Art Center in Bangkok and the ilmi Science Discovery & Innovation Center in Riyadh. The Musée du Louvre has selected WHY to design its new Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art and to renovate the museum's Roman Antiquities trail as well as the Islamic Wing. The firm is also designing the National Museum of India in New Delhi, an ambitious national cultural project expected to become the largest museum in the world when it is complete.

At the heart of Yantrasast's philosophy is what he calls Acupuncture Architecture: precise interventions that fix and heal old buildings as well as connect them to context and release new cultural energy within the institutions and cities. WHY Architecture was founded in Los Angeles in 2004. It works internationally through studios dedicated to Architecture, Museums, Landscape and Experience, reflecting Yantrasast's belief that cultural institutions must bring together architecture, exhibition, environment and narrative.

Yantrasast was raised in Bangkok and educated at the University of Tokyo, where he received both his M.Arch. and PhD. He later worked closely with Pritzker Prize–winning architect Tadao Ando, contributing to major cultural projects including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. He has received Thailand's Silpathorn Award and serves on the boards of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. In 2026 he was named a Medallist in the Cross Disciplinary Creator category of the second edition of the Art Basel Awards.