The Royal Academy of Arts in London announces an ambitious project to expand its Collection Gallery located in Burlington Gardens. The work will transform the current space into a majestic double-height gallery, designed by David Chipperfield Architects in collaboration with Julian Harrap Architects, allowing significantly more works from the permanent collection to be displayed. The project received generous support from an anonymous donor and is designed to enhance and reinterpret the historic examination room designed by Sir James Pennethorne and opened in 1870.
The new space will offer a 12-meter-high gallery to the public, with a mezzanine on the second floor providing accessibility to both levels. The modern design allows for greater flexibility in layout, opening up the possibility of telling new inspirational narratives from the Royal Academy’s collection. The current Collection Gallery will close to the public on Oct. 10, while the entire building at 6 Burlington Gardens will be temporarily closed from Oct. 27, with a planned reopening in early 2027. Burlington House, accessible from Piccadilly, will remain open, and the RA’s 2026 exhibition program will remain unchanged.
Simon Wallis OBE, Secretary and CEO of the Royal Academy, said, “The Royal Academy has an important and growing permanent collection. This project will create an extraordinary double-height gallery designed by David Chipperfield Architects, restoring the building with reference to its original design and further enhancing its offerings to visitors. We are deeply grateful to our anonymous donor for supporting this special project.”
The Collection Gallery expansion represents the third and final phase of the Royal Academy’s Masterplan, following the RA250 Project completed in 2018 and the RA Schools Restoration and Renewal Project completed in 2024. As an independent, non-government-funded entity, the RA will continue to raise funds to cover associated costs, capital fund, and operational support.
Founded in December 1768, the Royal Academy has always collected works of art that represent the talents of its members. The so-called Diploma Works form the core of the permanent collection, and include paintings, sculptures, models, drawings, prints and multimedia works donated by artists at the time of their election.
The collection now has more than 40,000 works, covering five centuries of art and architecture and documenting the evolution of the British School from the 18th century to the present. It includes masterpieces by Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, David Hockney and Hurvin Anderson; sculptures by John Flaxman, Lynn Chadwick, Elizabeth Frink and Yinka Shonibare; and architecture by Sir John Soane, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Dame Zaha Hadid and Farshid Moussavi. Among the most famous pieces is Michelangelo’s Tondo Taddei, the only example of the artist’s sculpture in the UK.
Part of this heritage is located at 6 Burlington Gardens, a space acquired in 2001. The complex was designed by Sir James Pennethorne as the seat of the University of London: opened by Queen Victoria in 1870, it is considered a masterpiece of mid-century Victorian architecture. It originally included a large triple-height theater and a double-height examination hall, along with Senate chambers and laboratories on the second floor.
The building has undergone numerous alterations throughout its history, housing the Civil Service Commission, the British Academy, and the British Museum’s Museum of Man, among others. In 2018, the Royal Academy completed a transformation that brought most of the historic proportions back to life, with the exception of the examination room, now the focus of the RA Collection Gallery Project.
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| London, Royal Academy announces expansion of Collection Gallery in Burlington Gardens |
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