Page and Park Architects has been appointed to Portrait of the Nation, the ambitious project to refurbish and transform the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. The £17.6 million project will involve the repair, conservation and creative adaptation of the landmark Arts and Crafts building, which opened in 1889 as the first purpose-built national portrait gallery in the world.
The Portrait of the Nation project is due to double the amount of gallery space within the building, and is set to reinvent the way in which the national collection is displayed, with a new focus on photography and Scottish art. The project will also create a range of enhanced visitor facilities and a new Education Suite, including community gallery, art studios and seminar room.
Work on Portrait of the Nation is due to begin in 2009, with a provisional completion date of autumn 2011. The aim of the project is to conserve and enhance the building designed by the celebrated architect, Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, in 1882. Page and Park has been charged with preserving the integrity and coherence of Anderson’s design which involves the removal of twentieth-century interventions, including partition walls and lowered ceilings.
New features include a mezzanine level in the south east and south west wings, and a new glass feature lift that will operate from the ground to the top floor. Improved access to the top floor will allow visitors to reach a suite of five top-lit galleries, while the transformation of previously underused areas of the building will lead to a 50% increase in public and gallery space. The ground floor will be remodelled to improve circulation through the building, and visitor facilities, including an enlarged café, shop and cloak room, will also be added. The new front entrance will be redesigned to become more welcoming and accessible and to cope with an increased number of visitors to the gallery.
