For its bicentenary, the National Gallery London has embarked on transformative capital projects to create a more welcoming, inclusive and accessible Gallery that engages its prominent Trafalgar Square location. Working alongside Heritage Architects Purcell and Vogt Landscape the scope includes remodeling parts of the Sainsbury Wing, Research Centre and the public realm and adding a new Supporters’ House in the Wilkins Building. The first phase, which will open in May 2025, will integrate historic architecture with modern functionality, ensuring an arrival experience that more graciously accommodates nearly 6m annual visitors.

A new “Square within a Square” will be created by the removal of an existing non-public courtyard on the western edge of the Wilkins building. This larger space in front of the Sainsbury Wing will signal it as the new entry point allowing for more comfortable public gathering in front of the building and alongside Jubilee Walk, while creating a stronger visual connection between Wilkins and the Sainsbury Wing at grade. Other strategic interventions include replacing the existing exterior dark glazing with new clear glazing to bring in more light and allow people to see the activity within the building more clearly from outside.

Upon entering the building, visitors will encounter a new streamlined security process in an enlarged enclosed vestibule that will reduce queuing lines. By relocating the current cloakroom and bookshop the amount of open space on the ground floor will be almost doubled, creating a substantially different spatial condition. The experience of entering into the compressed VSBA space will be maintained and will now be legible as a mezzanine juxtaposed with two newly created double height spaces to the east and west of the entry vestibule.

This re-envisioned space will provide room for orientation and lingering with an espresso bar, lounge area and information desk. A visual connection with the first floor will be possible for the first time where visitors will find a restaurant and bookstore.

A new link below Jubilee Walk will provide for a circulation “loop” between the Sainsbury Wing and the Wilkins building as it is now only possible for the public to move between the buildings at the gallery level. This will also provide for greater access to the newly refurbished Research Centre. The current office space in the Wilkins building overlooking Trafalgar Square will be repurposed as a new amenity and hospitality space for Supporters of the Gallery. Both the Research Centre and the Supporters House will be accessible via a new on grade entry made possible by the removal of the aforementioned courtyard on the western side of the Wilkins building. This exterior area will be further enhanced with additional seating for the public.