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When it opened in 1978, the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich was a maverick of the museum world. It was built to house the collection of art and material culture donated to the University of East Anglia by Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury and completely upended people’s ideas of how art should be displayed.
Instead of following the traditional museum layout – enclosed gallery rooms separated by long corridors – architect Norman Foster designed the building as one single open-plan space. Now Grade II-listed, the Sainsbury Centre holds a stunning art collection with works from the likes of Picasso, Degas, Bacon, Moore and Lalique.
It’s a cultural space worth holding onto for as many decades to come as possible. And this week, in order to protect and enhance it for future generations, the Sainsbury Centre received one of the biggest donations ever given to a British museum.
An ‘incredible gift’
A staggering £91.2m was given to the centre by Gatsby, a charitable foundation created by David Sainsbury, the son of Robert Sainsbury. That funding will go towards giving the gallery a major refurbishment.
The makeover will include improvements to the building’s foundations, exterior walls, roof, windows and doors as well as the addition of more renewable energy infrastructure to help UEA achieve net zero by 2045. It aims to halve the amount of energy needed to run the venue.
Inside the centre, there’ll be upgrades to enhance the experience of the more than 1.1m people who visit each year. The entrances, lifts, signage, flooring, bathrooms, café, kitchen and staff spaces will all get a facelift. There’ll also be improvements made to the surrounding landscape to create better connections between the the building and the sculpture trails.
Jago Cooper, the gallery’s executive director, said in statement: ‘This incredible gift secures the future of the Sainsbury Centre. Foster’s vision for the most radical art museum in the world half a century ago is being revitalised for the next generation of visitors.’
Did you see that one of the UK’s oldest theatres is gearing up to reopen after a £6 million makeover?
Plus: One of the UK’s most popular museums will soon reopen – and it’s now owned by the National Trust.
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