National Portrait Gallery new entrance and forecourt (Photo: Olivier Hess)
After three years of being closed and a major transformation to its building, London?s National Portrait Gallery, which was the first portrait gallery in the world, is celebrating its reopening.
Designed by Canadian ex-pat Jamie Fobert, the gallery is located in a Grade I-Listed building, which was built to create a permanent home for the national collection of portraits in 1896.
Led by Jamie Fobert Architects, alongside heritage architects Purcell and a highly skilled design team, the gallery has undergone a complete refurbishment and reconsideration.
From a new public forecourt, which leads to a generous entry hall, to the creation of a dynamic new learning centre, this project has opened up areas that have been hidden for decades. The building has also been reorientated to face the city and connects the Gallery with the area of London. Another major element of the project has been the creation of The Mildred and Simon Palley Learning Centre with two levels joined with an elevator as well as a new, curving stair within a volume cut out of the building.
A complete restoration of the gallery spaces has also been part of the project. This includes the opening of infilled arches and windows which were once blocked. Rooflights covered in the Second World War have also been reinstated.
The wooden floors have been brought back to the deep lustre of the original teak after being faded by the sunlight and t...