Arts & Culture \ Extension to The Scottish Gallery at The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. (Speculative)

Proposed Extension to The Scottish Gallery at The National Gallery Of Scotland (Speculative).

We were disappointed not to be selected for the shortlist for the new ”Scottish Gallery” under the NGS on The Mound. Had we been (and with our experience of designing over the railway tunnels at the Haymarket) we would have strongly advised to avoid building anywhere near them. It came as no surprise to us that the budget of the chosen design was exceeded. However, the resultant and reduced gallery is very popular although suffers from little natural light, low ceilings and over-crowded hanging. This proposal shows an extension along the lines of what we might have suggested first time. around. The Mound itself is just a historic rubbish dump so excavation and engineering of the new galleries there would have been a lot easier that the recent experience.

The proposal shows three levels of a stepped section gallery linked as one with a variety of display spaces available. Like so many Victorian buildings for the arts there is no view of what is happening inside. Playfair’s design for the NGS is no exception and so we placed a large dramatic north facing oculus window on The Mound, almost the only indication that a new building exists there. There would also have been a new entrance at the top of Playfair steps. When Sir John Leighton (the former NGS Director) saw the design he said “that window would double the numbers in the National Gallery.” It still could.