Burrell Foley Fischer were commissioned to refurbish and remodel the main reception areas for the School of Arts at Birkbeck College, University of London. The School of Arts occupies 39 – 47 Gordon Square, listed Grade II, in Bloomsbury. The School of Arts wished to create a stylish, flexible space that provides a distinctive image for the School, including reception, exhibition and teaching spaces.

The Peltz Gallery was created as part of the refurbishment and remodelling of the School of Arts. The gallery is a flexible space for digital and material exhibitions, small-scale performances, lectures and meetings. The space is able to accommodate a variety of research and creative activities at the heart of the historic building.

Thomas Cubitt, then London’s best known builder, developed Gordon Square in the 1820s. It is noted for its association with the Bloomsbury Group, a collective of intellectuals, writers and artists, including Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, who lived and worked around Bloomsbury in the first half of the 20th century. The economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) lived at 46 Gordon Square, which is marked by a blue plaque.