CONTEXT 184 : JUNE 2025 3 clear glazing, bringing daylight across the foyer while revealing subtle views of the 1830s National Gallery building by William Wilkins. Conversely, the clear glazing allows those outside the Sainsbury Wing, for the first time, to see the grand stair and the activity within. The palette of natural materials used throughout the new spaces includes the same grey Florentine limestone (pietra serena) employed in the Venturi, Scott Brown galleries, along with Chamesson limestone from northern Burgundy, slate, oak and black granite. of Douglas fir. The near-replica is an exemplar of design and craftsmanship. The original finial did not go to salvage but, skilfully re-assembled, stands heroically inside the church. This year the church will also begin a major project to restore its famous and extensive scheme of murals by Walter Starmer (1877–1961). Painted mainly over a 10-year period from 1920, using the spirit fresco technique, the murals cover most of the interior. The Courtauld will provide on-site restoration training, and the church is bidding from trusts to help meet the £700,000 cost. A rare survival for its date, the scheme has been hailed as a key part of the church’s unique aesthetic. It is certainly the largest complete collection designed by a single artist in the interwar years. At the heart of the garden suburb’s community, St Jude has strong musical interests and good acoustics. Choral scholarships have been run at the church for nearly a decade and there is an annual programme of Proms at St Jude. Its cathedral-like splendour makes it a chosen venue for film, recording and events. The Lutyens Trust and Lutyens Trust America are working with the minister, the Rev Emily Kolltveit, and the growing fabric team at St Jude, headed by David White. The Lutyens Trust is a society dedicated to promoting the preservation of Lutyens designs, his collaborative work, and the spirit and substance of his heritage. It is not a source of grants. It works to inform, research and engage, including support for those responsible for Lutyens’ buildings. For more about the restoration, contact fabric@stjudeonthehill.com or about the trust, deborah.mays@ lutyenstrust.org.uk. Donations can be made towards the restoration via the church’s website. Sainsbury Wing re-opens The National Gallery’s new main entrance, designed by Selldorf Architects, in collaboration with Purcell heritage architects, has opened. The renovated Sainsbury Wing is intended to improve access for all while enhancing the public realm in Trafalgar Square. The project includes a cafe, restaurant and bookshop. The aim has been to work with the Sainsbury Wing’s original Grade I listed design of 1991 by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, while substantially improving visitor flow within and without the building. The National Gallery claims that, with new double-height volumes to the east and west, ‘the foyer retains the sense of compressed and released space and the mannerist play of the Sainsbury Wing’s complex postmodern architecture’. It further celebrates the grand stair leading to the unchanged early Renaissance galleries, also by Venturi, Scott Brown. The original dark glass of the side-lit stair has been replaced with Walter Starmer’s mural in St Jude’s apse. The Courtauld will provide on-site training in the restoration. (Photo: David White) This summer (18 June–21 September 2025) Sir John Soane’s Museum will present the UK’s first retrospective survey of Richard Rogers’ life and work since his death in 2021, with an exhibition focusing on the architect’s eight favourite projects from 1967 to 2020, including the Zip-Up House, the Centre Pompidou, Lloyd’s of London and the Millennium Dome (seen here, image courtesy of RSHP Drawings). The Sainsbury Wing Foyer looking south (Photo: National Gallery, London, Edmund Sumner)
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