National Gallery Announce £30m Makeover for Sainsbury Wing Entrance
February 16 2021
Picture: architectsjournal.co.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The National Gallery in London have announced a £30m makeover for the gallery's Sainsbury Wing Entrance. The development has been announced as part of an international competition for architects to 'vastly improve the welcome' experience in this portion of the building.
The gallery's director Gabriele Finaldi is quoted as saying:
We are incredibly fortunate to have a valuable modern heritage asset such as the Sainsbury Wing and it has more than met its original brief, notably in the world-class galleries. The dual challenge of a huge increase in visitor numbers and the changing expectations and needs of those visitors over the last 30 years means we do need to look again at the spaces we have, and in particular the ground-floor entrances and amenities.
Click here and here to read Bendor's own comments on his Twitter page. In particular, he has drawn attention to the disparity between the threatened closure to the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead to save £212,000 and the £30m to be spent on a new entrance of this London gallery.
