The Courtauld Institute of Art has announced an £82 million redevelopment of its campus at Somerset House in London, describing it as a “once-in-a-generation transformation” of the Grade-I listed building. The project, led by Stirling Prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann, will bring teaching spaces under the same roof as the gallery for the first time since the institute moved to the site in the late 1980s.
The four-year project will focus on the east wing of Somerset House, connecting the institute to several townhouses on the Strand. Currently, the Courtauld’s teaching spaces are located in King’s Cross, north London. The move will create what the institution calls “a flexible, state-of-the-art campus” designed to secure its legacy for the next century.
Professor Mark Hallett, the Märit Rausing director of the Courtauld, said: “Our gallery is the most elegant and beautiful gallery in the UK and this next phase is about creating an amazing new campus for the academic institute while bringing everything back under one roof … It’s going to be something that’s really fit for the students of today.” He added that the renovation completes the original vision of former director Michael Kauffmann, who moved the Courtauld to Somerset House in the 1980s.
The announcement comes amid a decline in art history education in UK schools. Research commissioned by the Courtauld shows that the number of schools offering A-level art history has fallen by 37% over the past decade, from 122 in 2016 to 77, all in England and mostly in London and the south-east. Only 19 of those are state schools. Hallett said the institute plans to help schools that wish to teach art history, though this project is in early planning stages.
The Courtauld’s gallery, which houses masterpieces including Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère and Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Bandaged Ear, reopened in 2021 after a £57 million renovation described by the Observer as “a masterclass in tasteful updating”. The new campus overhaul is funded by donations, including a record £30 million from the Reuben Foundation and £10 million from the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
