A team of designers has been appointed to design a new wing of the National Gallery that will house its modern art collection.
The extension is part of the £750m Project Domani transformation that will see the London gallery extend its focus beyond 1900 for the first time; set up an acquisitions fund for modern artworks; and create new spaces to house its expanded collection.
The new wing will be built on the site of the last remaining part of the National Gallery’s current campus, St Vincent House, which was acquired nearly 30 years ago and currently houses a hotel and office complex. Once completed, the galleries will also provide a connection between Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.
Kengo Kuma is a Tokyo-based architecture and design practice founded in 1990, which has worked on cultural and civic projects such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and V&A Dundee. It is supported by BDP, a multidisciplinary design practice that worked on Google’s London Campus and AstraZeneca Discovery Centre, and MICA architectural design practice, which has undertaken projects at the Ashmolean Museum and Dulwich Picture Gallery.
“It is a privilege to join the National Gallery in this historic project,” Kuman said. “The National Gallery’s collection is a treasure of humanity, and to be entrusted with the expansion that will hold these masterpieces is a responsibility we carry with the greatest care and humility.”
An international architectural competition to design the new wing received 65 submissions, with six architects shortlisted to take part in a design competition.
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“Innovative and beautiful”
A selection panel found the submission from Kengo Kuma and Associates with BDP and MICA “exemplary”, awarding it the highest available score.
“The design is both innovative and beautiful, meeting the ambition and sensitivity required for an international gallery commission,” the panel said. “It is respectful of the Sainsbury Wing galleries … and the approach to the public realm and roof garden creates a generous presence, enhanced by trees and greenery.”
An open visitor welcome, made using Portland stone and featuring stepped building form, will also provide the building with natural lighting.
The interior of the new wing will be “simple and clean”, the panel said. The main floor will incorporate vaults and arches, while the upper floor will have a more geometric design.
“As a result, the main floor of galleries presents a continuum with the Sainsbury Wing and North Galleries, but the upper floor has its own style, which adds variety and a change of design pace to the overall scheme,” the jury added.
The design includes a bespoke climate and social action design framework. Project Domani has already raised £375m, including £150m pledged by Crankstart charitable foundation and £150m by the Julia Rausing Trust. A further £75m has been contributed by the National Gallery Trust, National Gallery chair of trustees John Booth, and other donors who prefer to remain anonymous.
Meet the judges
Kengo Kuma and Associates with BDP and MICA were appointed by a panel of judges:
- John Booth, chair of the National Gallery board of trustees
- The artist Céline Condorelli
- Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery
- John Kingman, deputy chair of the National Gallery board of trustees
- Diane Lees, former director of the Imperial War Museum
- David Marks, chair of the National Gallery masterplan committee
- Patty Hopkins, an architect and former National Gallery trustee