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| Architect | Wilkins Building - William Wilkins (1778-1839); Sainsbury Wing - Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown, Philadelphia. |
| Lighting designer | - |
| Photographer | Rudi Meisel, Berlin |
| Project location | London |
The National Gallery in London is one of the world's most important art galleries. Its decision to go for ERCO's LED lighting makes it an even greater leading light in more ways than one.
The National Gallery is home to one of the world's most beautiful and extensive collections of European painting. Over 2300 paintings from the mid-13th to the 19th century await the visitor. Although founded in 1824, the gallery did not move to its current location at Trafalgar Square until 1838. The most comprehensive extension was made in 1991 with the opening of the Sainsbury Wing, designed by Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates. This took the exhibition area up to today's level of 46,396sqm. A staff of 600, including world-renowned researchers, conservationists and restorers, looks after the artworks and the visitors.
Before deciding to go for an LED lighting solution from ERCO, the technical management of the National Gallery conducted extensive testing on the innovative lighting tools both in the historic sky-lit galleries (left) and in the Sainsbury Wing (below). In terms of illuminance and colour rendition, the Optec spotlights with warm white LEDs proved to be of equal lighting quality to the existing solution with low-voltage halogen lamps, but were many times more efficient. It was found that, as a rule, a 100W halogen spotlight could be replaced by a 14W LED- spotlight. The long service life of LEDs also saves maintenance costs.
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
Opening times: daily from 10am to 6pm, Fridays 10am to 9pm
Free admission
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
