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view across Whitehall and could see the temples of politics, art and religion whose chief exponents graced the walls of the gallery. It made an under-visited gallery into a must-see venue, that escalator working rather like a department store drawing people effortlessly upward.
Now, Jamie Fobert has masterminded the biggest redevelopment if the gallery since it first opened its doors, a beautiful building that for much of its history suffered from benign neglect. Given Grade I listing in 1970, Fobert is inevitably collaborating with Purcell, the historic building specialist. Purcell has been
working with the National Gallery for over 30 years on a conservation management plan of the building’s estate, the creation and refurbishment of galleries, and is currently employed with Selldorf on updating the Sainsbury Wing that will open next year. At the NPG, working on an extremely awkward and constricted site, his involvement has been critical to discovering that tantalising rarity – space. Framed by the National Gallery and two main roads, the footprint offered little to no room for expansion, so any changes needed to adapt the existing spaces and material – and the building’s listed fabric limited anything but the most sensitive approach. Tis century-old
architectural oddity created a central pinch point by placing the principal entrance and stairway between the East Wing and Palazzo. Tis footprint, already hindered by a non- existent forecourt, congested the entrance and exit points, ticketing halls and visitor facilities, and hindered level access. Te gallery spaces needed refurbishment and reconfiguration as, despite all the previous work, illogically disjointed galleries struggled to create a harmonious experience for the unwary visitor. Key facilities including the learning centre, toilets, and cloakroom lacked essential space. Te overall architectural aim of the project was to physically open up the building, and to make the collection and programme more visible, accessible and welcoming. Overall, the redevelopment includes, yet again, a new ‘public forecourt’ in St Martin’s Pace, a new entrance hall, new retail and catering facilities, a new learning centre and two additional studios, and – oh yes, that gallery must have – a cocktail bar alongside the return of its Portrait Restaurant. Tere is also a major education and outreach programme: a nationwide scheme aimed at teachers and lecturers, schoolchildren, students and disadvantaged young people, focusing on history, citizenship, literacy and art.
Te East Wing is reopening as the Weston Wing with office space converted into top-lit galleries, overall gallery space has been increased by 20 percent resulting in a complete re-hang and reinterpretation of the extensive collection across 40 refurbished galleries, to present an updated and more diverse selection of portraits. Tis latest scheme is meant to work for generations to come – but then they said that before. Along the way, there has been a most unexpected acquisition, a ticket office on a small traffic island outside the new entrance below which lay a public lavatory unused since the 1970s. Donors do not always get their wishes fulfilled. Te original donor wanted the entrance to be on the east side. Tis will now become a side entrance. Te new main entrance will face north, something William Alexander did not want as it would mean pointing towards that den of iniquity, Soho, and the slums around Seven Dials. Seventeenth century maps show a workhouse and the new entrance falling there on a street called Dirty Lane.
Other than government funds, the main source of money to pay for the renewal and enlargement is the Blavatnik Family Foundation, together with significant but smaller sums from Julia and Hans Rausing, the Ross Foundation (the new entrance), Clore Duffield (the learning centre), and Garfield Weston (the east wing). Len Blavatnik is a billionaire Ukrainian-born American-British business magnate whose fortune arrived courtesy of the collapse of the USSR, and is now one of the most generous philanthropic benefactors in the UK. You name it, he has supported it, from the Royal Opera House,
LEFT AND FAR LEFT: GARETH GARDNER / NISSEN RICHARDS STUDIO
JIM STEPHENSON
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