Annabelle Selldorf’s practice will create a five-year masterplan for the museum’s Grade II-listed Hertford House base on Manchester Square. The job comes soon after the practice completed the controversial revamp of Venturi, Scott Brown’s 1991 National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing.
The Wallace Collection comprises 5,500 objects, including medieval and Renaissance works of art and princely arms and armour.
It is understood Selldorf Architects saw off a number of major names to land the job, which aims to ‘reimagine and revitalise’ the collection’s spaces and preserve ‘the charm and unique character of the building while improving access, sustainability and visitor experience’.
The project will update visitor circulation throughout the building, rework the museum’s dedicated temporary exhibition space, upgrade staff facilities and the restaurant, and improve environmental controls.
The announcement comes as the collection celebrates its 125th anniversary, welcoming more than 500,000 visitors in a single year for the first time.
The competition brief said the ‘comprehensive and transformative redevelopment’ would include ‘all areas of the building, focusing on improving the visitor experience, the display of the collection and income-generating opportunities’.
It added: ‘The project should create an exceptional experience for all users through making better and more efficient use of the site and addressing wayfinding and circulation issues. This plan will be an opportunity to redisplay the world-famous arms and armour collection, which includes exceptional Asian and North African works of art as well superb European princely pieces, at the heart of Hertford House.
‘It will also seek to highlight the fine collection of French 19th-century paintings and the Medieval and Renaissance works of art, which are housed in outdated and tired galleries.’
The Wallace Collection is a former family home in Marylebone, which has been open to the public since 1900. In 2000 Rick Mather Architects (now MICA) completed an expansion of the Wallace Collection building, creating new basement galleries and glazing over a courtyard to create a sculpture court.
Purcell has also previously worked with the museum on a revamp of its Great Gallery in 2022, where it reconfigured the space’s environmental control.
But according to the museum, the site has several shortcomings, including way-finding issues, long queues for tickets, an overcrowded café and inadequate toilets.
Its director, Xavier Bray, said: ‘The Wallace Collection occupies a unique place in the national and international museum landscape – an exceptional collection in an extraordinary historic home.
‘We are delighted to be working with Selldorf Architects, Purcell and Lawson Ward Studio on the next chapter in the museum’s history. Their thoughtful, collaborative approach and track record of working with complex heritage buildings gives us great confidence as we embark on this transformational journey.’
The RIBA Stage 0 design brief had already been drawn up by Lawson Ward Studio.
Source:The Wallace Collection
The Great Gallery
Selldorf Architects has a track record of high-profile retrofits including the Frick Collection and the Neue Galerie, both in New York.
Practice principal Selldorf said she was looking forward to making the museum’s collection ‘more accessible’.
She said: ‘Engaging a wider audience with art and the building’s beautiful architecture is vital, and the project presents an exciting opportunity to re-examine essential aspects of the visitor’s experience.
‘Bringing people closer to art matters to us and is a core part of our firm’s work.’
Bids for the commission were evaluated at 70 per cent on quality and 30 per cent on price. Applicants had to hold employer’s liability insurance of £10 million, public liability insurance of £10 million and professional indemnity insurance of £10 million.
The design contract for the job was initially estimated at £1.2 million.
Source:Photography by Thierry Bal, (c) The Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection