National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
A modern landmark for London’s cultural landscape, The Portrait is a rooftop restaurant and bar designed for the National Portrait Gallery. Set within the newly reimagined gallery, the space merges craft and quiet glamour with a commanding view of the city skyline.
The brief called for a destination dining experience that matched the ambition of the gallery’s transformation without alienating its diverse audiences. The result is a space that balances reverence for heritage with contemporary elegance. Every design move was rooted in the idea of integration, blurring the boundary between architecture, view and visitor.
| Covers | Size | Timeline | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110 | 3400 Sqft | 10 Months | 2024 |
The room unfolds around layered green tones that echo the heritage colours of the galleries below. Deep green mohair banquettes with mid-century lines are paired with more classic dining chairs, suggesting a space that has evolved with time. Travertine, inlaid brass and wide-planked oak flooring anchor the scheme with quiet permanence.
One of the defining gestures is a bespoke wall panel designed by Studio Shayne Brady in collaboration with de Gournay. The hand-sewn fabric murals reimagine the gallery’s façade in painterly detail, bringing the architecture into the interior as a piece of narrative craft. Elsewhere, a brass-inlaid gallery crest at the entrance subtly reinforces the sense of place.
The restaurant also plays host to a curated series of five sculptural portraits – celebrating artists and designers such as Elizabeth Frink and Henry Moore – which ground the space within its artistic context. Custom lighting by Atelier shifts the atmosphere from morning to night, with warm table lamps and recessed ceiling spots layered to echo the rhythm of the day.
Framed by panoramic views of London, The Portrait is both an escape and a destination – crafted with restraint and richness, and poised for lasting relevance.
