The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) is set to receive £56 million in funding to begin construction on The Art Works, a major new free-to-visit gallery in north Edinburgh. The Scottish government has committed to providing the funding over the next three years.
Construction on The Art Works is set to begin this summer in Granton, a waterfront neighbourhood in North Edinburgh. The gallery will house more than 130,000 works of art, which visitors will be able to interact with. In this way, the director-general of the NGS, Anne Lyden, has compared The Art Works to the V&A East Storehouse in London. Visitors will be able to pull out storage racks containing paintings, and use viewing rooms to look through photographs and drawings.
The Art Works is a central feature of the NGS’s 2026-30 strategic plan, which focuses on improving access to Scotland’s national art collection. At present, only 3% of the NGS collection is on display in its galleries or out on loan.
Speaking to The Art Newspaper, Lyden said: “The remaining 97% [of the collection] is in storage that is expensive, hard to access, overcrowded and no longer fit for purpose, putting Scotland's art at huge risk. The Art Works is our solution.” The warehouse will house all of these previously hidden works. The space will also help to achieve the NGS’s ambition that every child and young person will have the opportunity to interact with their nation’s artwork. Lyden continues: “Pull out the racks to see Scotland’s art, attend an event, or have a picnic in the grounds. It will be yours to discover.”
The total estimated cost to create the building was cited in The Herald as at least £100m, though Lyden says it is “difficult to put final cost on the project given global uncertainty” and that the NGS “will be able to provide a full update ahead of opening”. She adds the organisation is hoping “to secure the remaining capital from both the UK government and philanthropic donors”.
A positive step
News of the £56 million commitment from the Scottish government is a positive development for the country’s arts sector. In recent years, many Scottish cultural organisations have suffered from financial uncertainty. In 2024, for example, V&A Dundee permanently halved the number of major exhibitions it stages to one a year, citing the need to cut costs amid “a volatile operating environment” exacerbated by the cost of living crisis and soaring inflation. There have, however, been signs of improvement. In 2025, Creative Scotland awarded £200m in funding for 251 Scottish arts organisations to cover the following next three years. This January, meanwhile, the Scottish government announced that the arts and culture sectors would receive a government investment of £266.3m, £70m more than the previous year.
The announcement of government support for The Art Works meanwhile comes in the wake of an independent report by the consultancy BiGGAR Economics which estimates that the NGS contributed £253 million to Scotland’s economy via tourism, jobs and cultural activity in the financial year 2024/25.
Lyden, however, emphasises that issues lie ahead. “We still have the very real challenges that all cultural organisations are facing as funding for the arts continues to be uncertain,” she says. “We are incredibly fortunate that our three galleries are beautiful, historic buildings, but these come with the very real costs associated with an aging estate. Like many other arts and cultural organisations, we know the shifting global landscape coupled with financial uncertainty will continue to be challenging for us all. By investing in access, participation and infrastructure now, we are laying the foundations for long-term cultural, social and wellbeing benefits for everyone.”
Alongside The Art Works development, the NGS has also announced major refurbishment work to its existing National Gallery on the Mound in Edinburgh’s city centre. After The Art Works is complete, plans are in place for a complete overhaul of levels three and four of the William Playfair building, which dates back to 1859. Modernised exhibition spaces and updated electrical, plumbing and roof works will ensure that the gallery can function well into 2050 and beyond.