Designed by Julius Chatwin in 1884, the Grade II* listed Wolverhampton Art Gallery epitomizes the Victorian ideal of civic architecture. The practice undertook a ten-year long conservation and reordering programme, culminating in a £6.7m extension, to transform the Gallery for the 21st century. This was a complex undertaking. The site for the extension was constricted with a narrow frontage between two facades of very different character and scale, and the work had to be planned in phases so that the Gallery could remain open throughout. The new three-storey extension is an inventive triangular structure. Linked to the old gallery by a full-height, top-lit atrium, it provides two new exhibition areas, one of which houses the Gallery’s acclaimed Pop Art collection. Traditional and contemporary materials – glass, steel and terracotta – were used to create this innovative yet complementary addition to the original building. The project has ensured that Wolverhampton Art Gallery is once again a state-of-the-art exhibition space.