View of the north elevation of The Whitworth from Denmark Road Picture:Alan Williams

MUMA's £15m redevelopment of The Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester lets the light in and gets a new lease of park life.

Manchester’s The Whitworth Gallery’s hashtag is #galleryinthepark. And when it re-opens to the public on February 14 visitors may well find themselves gazing out at the plane and ash trees of Whitworth Park, revealed and framed by McInnes Usher McKnight Architects (MUMA) glass, steel and brick extension, as much as at the Bacon, Freud and Paolozzi artworks inside.

Dr. Maria Balshaw, director of the Whitworth which is part of the University of Manchester, is confident that gallery regulars, will enjoy the “shock of the view”; park vistas now visible through glazed apertures that offer a new aspect where once were blank white walls.

Balshaw's brief to MUMA included a quote from one of her fellow director predecessors, Margaret Pilkington, who stated in 1932: “I have come to the conclusion that a good museum or gallery should be a place where people feel comfortable. If it stands in a garden or park, the visitors should be able to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors as a counterpoint to what is within.”.....Continue Reading