Great Spaces Inspire – Enhancement of Facade

The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is housed in a magnificent grade II* listed building with seven galleries, of which five are naturally lit. As one of the best galleries in the UK it has an outstanding Permanent Collection. Our project will enable the RWA to be more accessible and welcoming to the public, by adapting our building. The front façade windows will be extended down to ground level and the entrance doors will be replaced by new automatic frameless glass doors to open up the frontage. We will remodel the forecourt making it ‘car free’, and provide easy level access with a ramp. We will introduce a Gallery Café which will broaden the visitor experience. Alongside this, we are developing our education, special needs, outreach and audience development programmes through a new integrated Learning and Participation Programme.