National Gallery Selects Kengo Kuma for New Wing

The National Gallery in London has selected Tokyo-based architect Kengo Kuma and Associates to design a major new wing as part of its £750 million expansion project, known as Project Domani. The announcement, made this week following an international competition, marks the institution's most significant transformation in its 200-year history and will extend its campus northward from the existing buildings.

The competition, launched last September, attracted 65 submissions from architecture firms worldwide. Six were shortlisted in December, including high-profile practices led by Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, and Annabelle Selldorf, whose firm recently renovated the gallery's Sainsbury Wing. Kuma's proposal, developed in collaboration with UK firms BDP and MICA, received the highest score from the jury and was chosen unanimously. The new wing, estimated to cost around £350 million, will replace St. Vincent House—a gallery-owned site currently occupied by a hotel and office complex—and is scheduled to open in the early 2030s, pending final ratification after a standstill period ending April 16.

The design emphasizes simplicity and harmony with the gallery's historic Grade I-listed...