Studio Linse has designed the National Gallery’s first members’ area.
The National Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square celebrated its 200th birthday last year.
Its membership programme – whereby supporters get unlimited free exhibition access and access to exclusive events – is only ten years old, but it plays an important part in the gallery’s revenue mix.
There are currently around 60,000 members, boosted by the huge success of the gallery’s Van Gogh show, which ran from last September until January, and was the most popular ticketed exhibition in the gallery’s history.
Each room in the National Gallery Supporters’ House represents a season
Chief commercial officer Susan Noonan, who joined from the Royal Academy of Arts 18 months ago, expects membership numbers to fluctuate. But the National Gallery’s NG200 vision focuses on the membership experience, aiming to create a world-class welcome for its supporters.
To that end, Supporters’ House is a dedicated members’ area for people to “socialise, dine and unwind.” A new House membership tier offers access to the space as part of a package that costs from £130/year.
For inspiration, Noonan and her team did extensive research across a range of hospitality, from hotels and clubs to museums, galleries and membership organisations.
“We also surveyed our own membership and support base extensively to understand their needs,” she says.
Supporters’ House is in the oldest part of the National Gallery building.
The front door of the Members-only Supporters’ House on Trafalgar Square
Its entrance, which is to the west of the gallery’s main entrance on Trafalgar Square, was formerly used by security staff. Inside, the ground floor was a warren of curators’ offices, stock rooms and store rooms.This space has been opened up and divided into four rooms – a lounge and bar, restaurant, private dining room, and ‘salon’ or event space.
“We wanted it to feel like it’s always been there,” says Noonan of the design.
“The initial wish was that it has an echo from the gallery, that you feel you’re in the National Gallery,” says interior designer Job Hoogervorst of Studio Linse.
The Amsterdam-based studio has form in this sector, creating hospitality spaces for London’s Royal Opera House and the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands’ own national gallery.
To articulate this link with its surroundings, Studio Linse looked at the paintings housed in the gallery and its furniture archive.
The designers homed in on the Northern European landscape painters and took inspiration from the colours they used, and the seasons that they often depicted.
The designers then developed a concept with each room representing a season. So the restaurant is described as winter mist and decked out in blues; the pink salon was described as summer blush. Meanwhile the private dining room – the house’s centre piece – was defined as the sun.
These colours were used to saturate each space, from the walls, window shutters and high ceilings to the furniture and curtaining. “The place is quite architectonic,” says Hoogervorst, “so it is as if each room has been dipped in a colour.”
Woven silk wall panels and damask curtaining in the new National Gallery Supporters’ House
A high gloss paint was used on walls to embrace their imperfections, he adds. Much of the fabric, including woven silk wall panels and damask curtaining, came from Gainsborough silk weavers in Suffolk.
When it came to furniture, Studio Linse wanted to give the rooms a classic British feel. In the archive, they discovered pieces that had been used in offices and galleries.
Those brought out of retirement include lounge chairs which were reupholstered in Gainsborough fabric; several detailed, circular tables in the restaurant; a low dark wooden cabinet in the private dining room and a grandfather clock in the lounge.
While the leather banquette in front of the bar is a new piece, it was inspired by existing gallery seating.
The lounge area at the new National Gallery Supporters’ House
The studio played around with different heights and seating possibilities. The restaurant’s tables and chairs are standard height. But in the lounge and salon the chairs and tables are lower to make it feel “more relaxed and casual.”
There’s a risk that members’ clubs and areas get too popular. Could Supporters’ House become a victim of its own success, where over-crowding will turn members off and away?
“We’ll be watching very carefully and monitoring take-up and occupancy, as well as listening to feedback from supporters,” says Noonan. “We anticipate that we’ll be able to look after everyone.”
What’s more, the tiered membership system allows people to opt in or out of access to Supporters’ House, depending on their needs.
The original parquet floor has been refurbished
Internal arches, which had been filled to create back-of-house rooms, have been opened up