Somerset House, with its grand Neoclassical façade, looks over the river Thames on the southern edge of the Strand in central London. Designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776 ‘the building is an idiosyncratic assemblage,’ typical of British Neoclassical architecture, featuring both French and Italian influences, order and heterogeneity, grandeur and simplicity. It was originally constructed to house various government offices and learned societies, with later additions in 1831 and 1856. Within this patchwork of style, and spatial volumes sit the Courtauld Gallery (relocated in 1989) in the Northern wing of the cultural complex.

The palatial block, not originally built to house gallery spaces, was recently transformed to better serve this purpose by London-based architecture studio Witherford Watson Mann Architects (WWM). The redevelopment project, through "a careful balance of studious conservation and bold intervention [aimed] to reveal the layers of the building’s evolution,” according to Stephen Witherford, Co-Director of the practice. The retrofit of the Grade I-listed complex is part of a larger scheme called Courtauld Connects. The goal is to make the museum and artworks more accessible to the public, which was supported with £11 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The interventions by the architects, for which they were shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize have helped ease the circulation and turned the interior spaces into lighter, more breathable rooms. “Opening up spaces and transforming the layout of the building will provide a more versatile infrastructure for exhibition and exchange in a way that resonates with the distinctive characteristics of Chambers’ original design,” summarises Witherford about the sensitive design. Having been previously recognised by the RIBA prize for the studio's work on the adaptive reuse of Astley Castle, Witherford come into this project with prior acknowledgement and experience.

London, one of the cultural capitals of the world, is home to over 800 art galleries. It is no exaggeration to say that should one wish to immerse in culture in the UK, London with its free galleries and year-round cultural programmes would be the place to be. However, this access to arts and cultures is still limited to a few. To ensure more openness in the arts means ensuring universal access, while also designing spaces in a way that engages and is meaningful for everyone. To this end, one of the primary interventions for the gallery was accessible design. The display of the paintings and their interpretative signs were also redone to make them more engaging.

The older, uninviting dark entrance was redesigned with the steps up to the Courtauld from the Strand being smoothed to become a ramp. The original Swedish limestone was re-used for this. Upon entering, one encounters a spacious, dramatic foyer with a new, cantilevered York stone staircase that connects the lower levels to the upper floors. To accommodate the staircase design, rooms had to be removed from the ground floor, a small trade-off for a better visitor experience.

Ascending the main staircase, its vibrant Prussian blue railings takes visitors to the galleries on the first floor. One would be hard-pressed to identify what has been altered within the galleries themselves. However, extensive changes were made by the British architects, in collaboration with Nissen Richards Studio who worked on the gallery design. Partitions were removed, fine gallery track lighting was installed and panels were finely detailed to allow for the direct hanging of artworks. New ducting, ventilation grilles and lighting design also helped improve the building's environmental performance. At the top floor, one is greeted by a specially commissioned painting by contemporary artist Cecily Brown, titled Unmoored from Her Reflection (2021). Instead of individual rooms, this level was converted into a connected suite, around the Great Room, a single volume bathed in natural light. These spaces also function as temporary exhibition areas. Learning studios for families and young people, a lecture room, and an object study room were also planned for the redevelopment. Apart from this, the previously closed basement was also opened up. This basement space, with concrete vaults that are reminiscent of the volume of the original brick architecture, was reimagined as the gallery's shop. As part of the next phase of refurbishment, his vaulted basement will act as a connector, creating a continuous path between the galleries and the student areas, with a café that opens onto the sunken two-storey light wells.

Particular attention was paid to how external windows and doors might add to the experience of the galleries. Daylight control and views were negotiated with the help of removable panels, with white and black blinds as per the function of each room. The subtlety of the architectural work came out through its detailing, such as replacing the pairs of double doors between each historic gallery that otherwise interrupted flow with single doors and creating entry portals by reworking Chambers’ chamfered corner doorways.

The project, which lost the architectural award to The John Morden Centre by Mæ Architects was the people’s choice among the six shortlisted projects. The conscious restoration, almost imperceptible to even the most attentive visitor was praised for creating a striking change in the atmosphere of the cultural institution. Apart from the many cultural activities in the city, to walk down the Strand is to immerse oneself in history, where each façade tells the story of a different bygone era. A vain attempt to preserve this vocabulary, and to hide contemporary architecture behind the pretence of history has lately prevailed in the form of façadism. Counter to that, WWM’s transformation of the Courtauld deftly negotiates the inherent complexities of the historical building with 21^st century solutions, showcasing that careful preservation and updation of such complexes is possible. Not only did the design give the Courtauld an extra 50 sqm, but it has ensured that visitor numbers have gone up from 206,000 a year to 320,000 in the first 12 months since its reopening. Opening out to the public, the design preserves the rich past while ensuring that this past and heritage have a future.

Project Details

Name: Redevelopment of the Courtauld Gallery
Location: London, United Kingdom
Client: The Courtauld Institute of Art
Architect: Witherford Watson Mann Architects
Consultants:
Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine 
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers Engineers
Environmental / M&E engineer: Max Fordham
Project management: Gardiner & Theobold
Construction manager: Sir Robert McAlpine Special Projects
Permanent exhibition design:  Nissen Richards Studio
Lighting design: ARUP Lighting / Studio ZNA
Access consultant: David Bonnett Associates
Historic building assessment: Alan Baxter
Planning consultant: The Planning Lab
Security consultant: Ian Johnson Associates
Fire consultant: BB7 Fire
Year of Completion: 2021