Editing Scottish National Gallery (section)

==Building==
William Playfair's building—like its neighbour, the Royal Scottish Academy—was designed in the form of an [[ancient Greek temple]]. While Playfair designed the RSA in the [[Doric order]], the National Gallery building is in the [[Ionic order]]. The main east and west elevations have plain [[Pilaster|pilastrading]] with the higher central transverse block having [[hexastyle]] Ionic [[portico]]es. Paired Ionic columns [[Anta (architecture)|in antis]] are flanked by [[tetrastyle]] Ionic porticoes at north and south. The design reflects the building's original dual purpose being divided longitudinally with the exhibition galleries of the RSA to the east and the National Gallery to the west.<ref name="campbell">{{cite book|last1=Campbell|first1=Donald|title=Edinburgh: A Cultural and Literary History|date=2003|publisher=Signal Books|isbn=9781902669731|url=https://archive.org/details/edinburghcultura0000camp|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/edinburghcultura0000camp/page/120 120]|quote=national gallery of scotland edinburgh greek temple#.|access-date=12 April 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name="pevsner">{{cite book|last1=Gifford|first1=John|last2=McWilliam|first2=Colin|last3=Walker|first3=David|last4=Wilson|first4=Christopher|title=Edinburgh|date=1991|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0300096720|pages=282–3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvmDV3oeRU0C&q=edinburgh%20pevsner&pg=PA282|access-date=12 April 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name=listed />

Playfair worked to a much more limited budget than the RSA project, and this is reflected in his comparatively austere architectural style. He may have drawn inspiration from an 1829 scheme for an arcade of shops by Archibald Elliot II, son of [[Archibald Elliot]]. Playfair's National Gallery was laid out in a [[cruciform]] plan; he originally planned to build towers at the corners of the transverse central block, but these were abandoned during the project. When the RSA moved into the former Royal Institution building in 1912, the Office of Works Architect for Scotland, [[William Thomas Oldrieve]] remodelled the NGS interior to house the National Gallery collection exclusively.<ref name="pevsner" />

In the 1970s, when the gallery was under the direction of the [[Department of the Environment (United Kingdom)|Department of the Environment]], the internal accommodation was extended. An upper floor was added at the south end in 1972, creating five new small galleries, and in 1978 a new gallery was opened in the basement to house the Gallery's Scottish Collection.<ref name="pevsner"/><ref name="our-history">{{cite web|title=Our history|url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/about-us/our-history|website=www.nationalgalleries.org|publisher=National Galleries of Scotland|access-date=12 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412103722/https://www.nationalgalleries.org/about-us/our-history|archive-date=12 April 2018|language=en}}</ref>

The new Princes Street Gardens entrance and underground space opened in 2004 was designed by John Miller and Partners. Construction took five years and cost £32 million. The area contains a lecture theatre, education area, shop, restaurant, an interactive gallery, and a link to the RSA building.<ref name="history" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3533074.stm |title=Opening day for gallery project |publisher=BBC News |date=4 August 2004 |access-date=29 March 2023}}</ref>

In January 2019, construction work began on a project to alter the lower level areas and to create extended exhibition space. It is planned that the Princes Street Gardens entrance will become the main entrance of the gallery; to facilitate access, East Princes Street Gardens is being re-landscaped with sloping paths and 52 trees have been felled, to be replaced with 22 newly planted saplings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ferguson |first1=Brian |title=Work begins on £22 million project for better access to Scottish National Gallery |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/work-begins-on-22-million-project-for-better-access-to-scottish-national-gallery-1-4852501 |access-date=7 January 2019 |work=The Scotsman |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Scottish National Gallery Project |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/scottish-national-gallery-project |publisher=National Galleries of Scotland |access-date=7 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The redevelopment is delayed until at least late 2022, as a result of asbestos being found in part of the structure and due to the implications of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="Herald">{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18219013.scottish-national-gallery-refurbishment-hit-unexpected-defects/| title=Scottish National Gallery refurbishment hit by 'unexpected defects' |work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] | date=7 February 2020 |access-date=29 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="ConstructionNews">{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18219013.scottish-national-gallery-refurbishment-hit-unexpected-defects/ |title=Scottish National Gallery project pushed back to end of 2022 |date=7 February 2020 |publisher=Scottish Construction Now |access-date=29 August 2021}}</ref>

<gallery caption="Architectural features" mode="packed">
File:Scottish National Gallery.jpg|Twin porticoes at the main entrance with the original name inscribed on the frieze.
File:Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. - geograph.org.uk - 1475030.jpg|Playfair's ionic columns
File:SNGInt.jpg|Interior of the ground floor main galleries
File:National Gallery of Scotland - geograph.org.uk - 428845.jpg|The Princes Street Gardens entrance (opened 2004)
</gallery>