National Portrait Gallery

London’s National Portrait Gallery was the first portrait gallery in the world. It is housed in a Grade I-Listed building, which, in 1896, was built specifically to create a permanent home for the national collection of portraits. Jamie Fobert Architects and Purcell’s transformational project focussed on revealing and making the most of every part of this handsome and richly decorative building. There was a complete refurbishment and reconsideration of the building, with a set of architectural interventions which can be understood as a number of parallel projects. Original windows, doors and roof lights were opened to bring in natural light, and hidden areas were revealed, including a Victorian terrazzo floor. The visitor experience has been enriched by improving facilities and bringing into use areas that were previously unused, increasing public space by around a fifth and making the Gallery fit for 21st century audiences. Central to the transformation is the new accessible entrance and public forecourt, which repurposes the previously underused area to the north of the Gallery. To create the new entrance, three of the original windows on the north façade were altered to form three 4-metre-high doorways into the Gallery. The new bronze doors feature 45 specially commissioned bronze portraits of women by artist Tracey Emin. The new doorways lead into a generous new entrance hall, which is more than double the size of the Gallery’s original foyer. To achieve this, some original walls were removed and large beams designed to carry the load of the building above. Here, visitors encounter art as soon as they enter the building. The new Mildred and Simon Palley Learning Centre provides a better learning experience for children, young people, community groups and adult learners. The Centre has more than doubled the Gallery’s provision for learners, increasing from one studio to three and incorporating a gallery space, state-of-the-art digital and photography equipment and improved facilities such as a lunchroom and a new courtyard garden. There was a complete restoration of the gallery spaces: blocked windows were opened, rooflights covered in the Second World War were reinstated and infilled arches were reopened. The wooden floors that had faded in sunlight were brought back to the deep lustre of the original teak. The ceilings of all the galleries were restored and unified with a single colour. Lighting, which used to hang at the cornice level at the centre of each gallery, was lifted up into the lanterns of Floor 3 galleries, so it virtually disappears from view. “The project was primarily driven by the desire for the Gallery to turn to face the city, to open up to the public in a way the original building did not, to bring back to life the gallery spaces, and to focus attention on the handsome Victorian architecture which had been obscured. No longer awkward or overlooked, the National Portrait Gallery can now stand confidently facing the city: the great historic building Londoners never knew they had.” Jamie Fobert.