Rendering depicting the entrance to the new wing. Image by Kin Creatives

“The design is both innovative and beautiful, meeting the ambition and sensitivity required for an international gallery commission,” the jury added in its statement. “The thoughtful design of the external spaces, with links to Leicester Square, evokes an open visitor welcome which is further enhanced using Portland stone and stepped massing, which shows sensitivity to the surrounding streets and allows natural light to be drawn into the building.”

KKAA, joined by United Kingdom–based collaborators BDP and MICA, was selected as part of a competition launched in September 2025. The six-team competition shortlist, revealed last December, also included Farshid Moussavi Architecture (with Piercy and Company), Foster + Partners (with Studio Adrien Gardère), Renzo Piano Workshop (with Adamson Associates and Williams Matthews Associates), Studio Seilern Architects, and Selldorf Architects (with Purcell), whose renovation of the museum’s Venturi Scott Brown Associates–designed Sainsbury Wing wrapped up last year. In total, 65 design proposals were received.

The new wing will replace St Vincent House, a property on the National Gallery campus—acquired by the museum 30 years ago—that currently is home to a hotel and office space. The Kuma-designed additionwill provide the National Gallery with a considerable amount of new space to house its expanding collection, which thanks to funding from Project Domani, will grow to include works created beyond 1900. Currently, the museum houses the United Kingdom’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th century to the early 20th century.

“It is a privilege to join the National Gallery in this historic project,” said Kuma in a statement. “The National Gallery’s collection is a treasure of humanity, and to be entrusted with the expansion that will hold these masterpieces is a responsibility we carry with the greatest care and humility.”

Stateside, in-progress KKAA projects include a luxury residential tower in Miami Beach and the Global War on Terrorism Memorial in Washington, D.C. The firm was also shortlisted—alongside fellow Project Domani contenders Selldorf Architects and Renzo Piano Building Workshop—for a major expansion of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. New York–based Weiss/Manfredi ultimately won that commission. Kumas was also a featured speaker at the 10th-annual International Mass Timber Conference, held earlier this month in Portland, Oregon. RECORD’s coverage of the conference is forthcoming.