National Gallery gets go-ahead for long-delayed extension plan

The National Gallery intends to start work next January on its long-delayed extension into Clare Street, Dublin, following confirmation that it has full planning permission to proceed with the £13.5 million project.

As no appeals were lodged against the revised scheme approved by Dublin Corporation, it can now go ahead with plans to provide the city with "one of the finest galleries in Europe", said Mrs Carmel Naughton, who chairs its board of governors.

Last January, An Bord Pleanala upheld appeals by the Irish Georgian Society and other conservation groups against the original scheme, mainly because it would have meant demolishing a much-altered Georgian building at No.5 South Leinster Street.

Benson and Forsyth, the gallery's Edinburgh-based architects, had earlier won a limited design competition for the Clare Street extension - based on a brief which told them to assume that the unlisted mid-18th century building could be demolished.

Following An Bord Pleanala's rejection of the original scheme, Benson and Forsyth immediately revised their plans to include the retention of No.5 South Leinster Street - formerly occupied by Davis King - and its early 19th century ballroom to the rear.

Mr Raymond Keaveney, the National Gallery's director, said both buildings would now be refurbished following consultation with experts in the field - as required by the latest planning permission, which insists that "authenticity" must be achieved.

The terms of the permission also specify a number of changes in the design of the new building which is to be erected on the adjoining cleared site - notably "a more vertical emphasis" in the arrangement of windows, to protect the area's character.

The project will provide the National Gallery with over 4,000 square metres of extra space as well as giving it a street front presence for the first time in its history. It will also reclaim a site which has been derelict since it was cleared in 1988.

Mr Keaveney said that the interior required further detailed design work before the gallery could go to tender later this year, with a view to starting construction in January, 1999. It is scheduled to be open in the latter part of 2000.

When completed, the Clare Street extension will provide additional exhibition space to accommodate the gallery's collection as well as international travelling exhibitions, a multi-media centre, audiovisual facilities, a bookshop and restaurant.

The building cost of £13.5 million is to be financed by a grant of £7.5 million from the EU Structural Funds and private sector sponsorship of £5 million, with the balance being raised through the gallery's development office.

So far, the project - which is to be managed by the Office of Public Works - has cost the National Gallery £4 million. This sum includes site acquisition, holding charges and professional fees, and it brings the total cost to £17.5 million.