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To celebrate 200 years since our foundation in 1824, we are planning a programme of inspirational exhibitions and outreach around the country and around the world, under the banner NG200. This will also include the completion of an initial phase of works to our Trafalgar Square buildings in order to improve the ‘welcome’ we provide to our millions of visitors we receive each year.

A new welcome for a new chapter in our history

The brief for the project includes sensitive interventions to the Grade I listed Sainsbury Wing to reconfigure the ground floor entrance and upgrade the visitor amenities, creating new spaces that will provide a welcome experience befitting a world-class institution and that meets the expectations of visitors now and in the future.

Alongside this will also be a new Supporters’ House with dedicated spaces for Supporters and Members to meet, relax and get closer to the collection. We will also transform our Learning Centre, allowing us to be far more ambitious with our educational offer and become the nation’s art classroom.

A new Research Centre, likely housed in the historic Wilkins Building, will support our vision of becoming a world leader in research into historic painting, and communicate our work as a global thought leader by creating a powerful resource for studies into art history, digital humanities, conservation, and heritage science.

Image: Detail from a visualisation of the view from Trafalgar Square approaching the Sainsbury Wing, with new transparent glass, reconfigured gates, and new seating. Image: Selldorf Architects
Image: Detail from a visualisation of the Sainsbury Wing, looking east from new double-height space along Whitcomb Street. Image: Selldorf Architects
Image: Detail from a visualisation of the Sainsbury Wing ground floor, looking northeast towards the grand staircase. Image: Selldorf Architects
Image: Detail from a sectional perspective, looking north through the Sainsbury Wing, Jubilee Walk and Wilkins Building. Image: Selldorf Architects
Image: Detail from a visualisation of the first floor of the Learning Centre © Lawson Ward Studio

Reimagining our connection to Trafalgar Square

We are reimagining the public realm immediately outside the Sainsbury Wing and along the northern edge of Trafalgar Square to improve the presence of the building in its context and create a more attractive and enjoyable setting for visitors and the public.

Underpinning the brief is the desire to create healthy, sustainable, and accessible spaces and an environment that is open and inclusive where visitors can relax as they plan their visit to one of the world’s finest art collections.

Following a period of unprecedented challenges due to Covid-19, we want to build on our strength, inventiveness and relevance to play a vital role in the nation’s recovery story.

Exciting new spaces

The historic Wilkins Building will include a new Supporters House with dedicated spaces for our Supporters and Members, as well as a new Research Centre for everyone interested in studying art, from young people to international academics.

A reimagined Learning Centre 

We will also transform our Learning Centre, allowing us to be far more ambitious with our educational offer and become the nation’s art classroom.

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The architect-led design team 

A team led by Selldorf Architects has been selected to work on a suite of capital projects to mark our bicentenary, with an initial phase to be completed in 2024. Selldorf Architects’ team also includes Purcell, Vogt Landscape, Arup, AEA Consulting, Pentagram, Kaizen and Kendrick Hobbs.

The selection process was run under the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation, in accordance with UK procurement regulations, by Malcolm Reading Consultant.

Where are we now? 

Summer 2023

Archaeologists from Archaeology South-East (UCL) have finished the first phase of excavations at the National Gallery. They’re now busy analysing all the finds and data from site to help them interpret the archaeological story.

See some of their behind-the-scenes photos from the excavation:

Two archaeologists stand over a large wooden box with a mesh base sieving artefacts from soil. One smiles towards the camera
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
Two archaeologists on an archaeological site talk together, standing either side of a measuring tape suspended at knee height. One holds a large clipboard
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
An archaeologist crouches in an excavated ditch, using a trowel to scrape at the soil in front of them
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
Three excavated post holes looking like shallow pits dug in the ground on an archaeological site, each roughly 20cm in diameter but one is much larger >30cm
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
An archaeologist cocks their head in advance of taking a photo of a large red brick wall that has been excavated. The photographed area includes a blackboard with information about the context being photographed, an arrow pointing north, and a red and white metre scale bar.
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
An archaeologist takes a photo of part of the excavation including a wall fragment. The photographed area includes a blackboard with information about the context being photographed, an arrow pointing north, and a red and white metre scale bar.
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
Trays of small, carefully arranged piles of archaeological materials including fragments of bone and orange and grey ceramic building material.
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
An archaeologist peers over a large tray, picking through an orange gravelly mass of small stones for archaeological artefacts
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL
an archaeologist in a lab measures a brick with a yellow tape measure. Around her on the desk are other bricks, a small pickaxe for removing brick fragments, and a microscope.
Image: Detail from Image © Archaeology South-East/UCL

Archaeologists sieve artefacts from soil at the excavation site. 

Archaeologists discuss the final bit of planning of the excavation.

An archaeologist excavates a Saxon ditch to the south of the excavation area.

Three excavated Saxon post holes. Two measure roughly 20cm in diameter, although the larger one is over 30cm.

An archaeologist records a large post-Medieval wall that has been excavated. 

An archaeologist takes a photo of part of the excavation, including a fragment of the post-Medieval wall. 

Trays of archaeological materials, including fragments of bone and orange and grey ceramic building material.

An archaeologist sorts through small stones for archaeological artefacts.

Rae Regensberg, Archaeology South-East’s Ceramic Building Material Specialist, looks at bricks from the excavation site.

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The archaeological history

The National Gallery sits in the hinterland of the former Roman settlement of Londinium, established around 2km to the east in the mid-1st century AD. This spot was likely a managed agricultural landscape for growing crops – however, nearby excavations have also revealed military and religious activity. This could be a chance for archaeologists to better understand how people used this area in Roman times.

The walled city of Londinium was abandoned in the 5th century AD. With the coming of the Saxons, the settlement shifted west along the modern area of the Strand. By the 7th century it was known as Lundenwic and was primarily a trading centre with a waterfront. The National Gallery lies to the western end of this settlement and excavations close by have found material of this date, so there is a chance we could recover some as well!

The history of the National Galley and this part of Westminster is amazingly complex, from King Richard II’s Royal Mews for hunting hawks to stables and even a possible row of houses. We might be surprised and find something unusual or completely unexpected – that’s part of the intrigue of archaeology! Hopefully these excavations will allow us to shine more light on this fascinating part of London.

NG200

Join us from 10 May 2024 as we celebrate our Bicentenary - 200 years of bringing people and paintings together
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