Welcoming new entrance defines National Portrait Gallery’s transformation

By Jim Sales Account Executive

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Beauty of Ewan Christian’s Florentine palazzo restored to full glory after three-year refurbishment

HRH The Princess of Wales has officially opened the Grade I listed National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London after a three-year transformation of architect Ewan Christian’s 1896 Florentine palazzo.

As Patron of the NPG she was shown round the refurbished galleries by NPG director Dr Nicholas Cullinan before meeting artist Tracey Emin CBE RA and singer Sir Paul McCartney, whose photography exhibition Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm runs until 1 October 2023.

The complete refurbishment of the world’s first portrait gallery cost £41.3m.The project was led by Jamie Fobert Architects alongside heritage architects Purcell, and is immediately striking with a new entrance on the northern façade, now a public space named Ross Place.

Ross Place is a piece of land owned by Westminster City Council and the memorial statue to Victorian stage actor-manager Sir Henry Irving which stood there has been relocated closer to Charing Cross Road– its orientation shifted to look towards London’s Theatreland.

Described by architect Jamie Fobert as a “project of many projects”, Christian’s façade has been lightly conserved and three of its original window openings altered to form four-metre-high doorways.

Central to the new forecourt is a major commission by Tracey Emin, with the three main entrance doors featuring portraits of women. The Doors (2023) consists of 45 individual bronze panels – a celebration of women from different walks of life, known and unknown.

Nicholas Cullinan said: “In 2020, Jamie Fobert and I talked about how the doors of the new National Portrait Gallery needed a human touch to balance the imposing façade with its roundels of 18 men from British history.

“Tracey Emin was the natural choice for this prominent commission, given her mastery of drawing and bronze sculpture. She has created something perfect for its context, that is moving yet monumental.”

The new doorways lead into an entrance hall which is more than double the size of the original foyer. The removal of some original walls and the design of large beams to carry the load of the building was overseen by the structural engineers Price and Myers.

The forecourt floor features a contemporary interpretation of a Carlo Scarpa marble mosaic and a Ewan Christian motif that runs through the gallery’s original mosaic floors. The development also includes a complete re-interpretation of the gallery’s collection across 40 refurbished spaces and a new learning centre.

Blocked windows have been opened, rooflights covered during the Second World War have been reinstated, and infilled arches have been reopened. Faded teak floors have been brought back to life and all ceilings have been restored and unified with a single colour. Lighting, which used to hang at the cornice level at the centre of each gallery, has been lifted by engineers Max Fordham into the lanterns of the Floor 3 galleries, so it virtually disappears from view.

In collaboration with gallery director Nicholas Cullinan, curators, and Nissen Richards Studio, a bespoke colour scheme was developed for the fabric wall linings (supplied by Suffolk-based Gainsborough) on Floor 3 and painted plasterwork on Floor 2 to unify gallery spaces. Nissen Richards also created setworks for the collection display, information panels, digital screen displays, and a family of showcases and plinths.

The NPG now has 20 per cent more public space, displaying 1,100 portraits (one-third more than previously). The new Blavatnik Wing on Level 2 showcases some of the best painters of the 19^th and 20^th century including Sir John Everett Millais, John Singer Sargent, Laura Knight, and Lucian Freud while the Weston Wing, supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation, houses the contemporary collection. New exhibits include a portrait of Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, by artist and film-maker Sir Steve McQueen.

It’s now also easier for visitors to navigate their way around the building through multidisciplinary design experts Holmes Wood’s new wayfinding design scheme in both patinated brass and PaperStone – a sustainable material constructed from recycled paper. New NPG signs have also been engraved into the Portland stone façades.

Overall, after many decades of adaptations, the Victorian building has been returned to its original beauty – yet more welcoming and more connected by creating vistas, introducing natural light, and revealing the details of the historic fabric.

About the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery tells the story of Britain through portraits, using art to bring history to life and explore living today. From global icons to unsung heroes, the collection is filled with the stories that have shaped, and continue to shape the nation. NPG celebrates the power of portraiture and offers encounters with some of the world’s greatest and most exciting new artists, promoting engagement with portraiture in all media by conserving, growing, and sharing the world’s largest collection of portraits.

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