“We want to fling open the windows, let the light bounce in,” said the architect Stephanie Macdonald in a building that has been known for being the opposite.
“You will get spectacular views of the Mersey,” said Helen Legg, the director of Tate Liverpool. “It is going to be magical for people.”
Macdonald, of 6a architects, and Legg were speaking on a hard-hat tour of what is seen as the most important UK art project taking place outside London.
Tate Liverpool closed in October 2023 for a £30m revamp, which at the time was expected to take two years. On Wednesday, Tate said it now expected it to reopen in the spring of 2027, as politicians, funders and trustees were shown around after the completion of phase one of the project.
“Flinging open the windows” is a central part of the revamp, Macdonald said. Previous visitors to the gallery would, once inside, have had little idea they were even in Liverpool, let alone next to the Mersey or inside a Grade I-listed 19th-century warehouse.
The first phase has involved removing the ugly, no-longer-cutting-edge air conditioning units that ran the length of the building, and stripping back the interiors to the original brick walls.
It has also brought natural light into the building, and that is just the beginning, gallery bosses say.
“We get the most spectacular sunsets over the Mersey but these spaces were boarded up or covered up,” Legg said, pointing to what will be the new cafe. “You will get a sense of being on the river … it’s going to be incredibly beautiful.”
Tate Liverpool was opened in a derelict warehouse in Royal Albert Dock in 1988, a conversion designed by James Stirling.
It was a risky venture, seen as mad by many, but it proved a catalyst for Liverpool’s regeneration and it helped kick off a wider revolution for contemporary art. After Tate Liverpool came Tate Modern in London as well as gamechanging galleries across the UK and Europe such as the Baltic in Gateshead, the Hepworth Wakefield, the Guggenheim Bilbao and Louvre-Lens.
Legg said other galleries learned from the success of Tate Liverpool. “But it also meant that Tate Liverpool got left behind in all of the new thinking that developed afterwards,” she said.
One reflection of that is the new Tate Liverpool will have a ground-floor art hall where larger works can be shown.
Part of the need for such a significant revamp is the success of the gallery over four decades. When it opened, 200,000 visitors a year were expected. Before the pandemic, the number visiting was 700,000. When it reopens, 1 million visitors are hoped for, entering through bigger doors and walking up wider stairs.
It is England’s most visited contemporary art gallery outside London and has staged memorable and popular exhibitions including Gustav Klimt in 2008 and Keith Haring in 2019, the latter of which made the Guardian’s Adrian Searle feel “like Dante being led into the circles of hell by Mickey Mouse”.
As well as letting light in, the revamp project is about ending the gallery’s reliance on fossil fuels. All the gas boilers are being removed.
Insulation is being improved, said Owen Watson, of 6a. “It is a major decarbonising project. We’re targeting an 85% reduction in carbon emissions.”
It could be argued that people go to galleries to look at art, not views, but why not both, says Tate.
“Beauty attracts beauty,” said Roland Rudd, the chair of Tate. “Think of the beautiful views you get from Tate Modern, the view of St Paul’s.”
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, was on the tour on Wednesday. He said the project captured what made the region so special – “honouring our history while looking ahead to the future”.
He said: “By breathing new life into this historic building, we’re not only celebrating its legacy but strengthening its role at the heart of our £6.25bn visitor economy and restating our place as the UK’s cultural capital.
“The impact of this project stretches beyond art. It’s about creating opportunities, driving regeneration and showcasing the very best of our city region to the world. Tate Liverpool is a symbol of everything we stand for: creativity, ambition and a deep connection to our community.”
