Although barely visible from the street, the wing of the late Victorian gallery increases public and exhibition space by 16 000 m2, more than half the existing area. The scheme involves an ingenious swap of accommodation with the adjoining National Gallery, as proposed in the competition-winning design by Jeremy Dixon.Edward Jones, architect of the Royal Opera House refurbishment.
The centrepiece of the refurbished gallery is one of the longest escalators in the UK, which sweeps 23 m up from a light-filled hall on the ground floor to a gallery on the second. The wing also includes another gallery, a 150-seat lecture theatre and a rooftop restaurant, which opens up a spectacular panorama of Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column.
The extension was built by Wallis and Norwest Holst Construction, with Bovis Program Management as project manager, Ove Arup & Partners as structural and services engineer, David Mlinaric as interior designer and Gleeds as quantity surveyor.
Also due to open in May are the newly refurbished Dulwich Picture Gallery, Somerset House, Goldsmith’s Hall and Tate Modern at Bankside, plus the new-build Millennium Bridge in front of Tate Modern.
