National Gallery in London to get bicentenary makeover

The Grade I listed site will get a new entrance complete with paving, benches and bollards

The National Gallery is to undergo a substantial makeover to celebrate its bicentenary.

Westminster Council has approved plans for the renovations, which the gallery hopes will be complete in time for its 200th anniversary in 2024.

The Grade I listed site will get a new entrance complete with paving, benches and bollards.

The gallery wants the buildings to be more accessible, but some heritage groups opposed the scheme.

Concerns have been raised about potential "harm" to protected buildings

Under the plans, the Sainsbury Wing on St Martin Street, which was opened in 1991, will undergo major works and become the gallery's permanent new entrance.

An underground link will be built to connect it with the main building.

Some of the gallery's Egyptian-style columns will be moved to become part of a new bookshop and landscaping works will be carried out to public spaces such as Jubilee Walk.

New entrances to the research centre and members' rooms will also be built on Trafalgar Square.

'Outstanding heritage significance'

Historic England raised "strong concerns" about the works and said the Sainsbury Wing was "a vital cultural asset" of "outstanding heritage significance".

The group said it believed the plans would cause "harm" to the protected buildings.

The gallery said the renovations would make security checks easier

But Westminster City Council unanimously approved the proposals on Tuesday and said the level of heritage harm caused would be "less than substantial" and outweighed by the public benefits.

It said the changes would improve accessibility to the buildings and make security checks easier.

The Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns to protect buildings erected after 1914, said it "strongly" disagreed and called for a public inquiry to decide the future of the site.

A spokesperson said: "This is a grade I listed building, and if it was a Victorian or Georgian one, this level of change would not be allowed."

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