Exclusive:National Gallery Edinburgh: Urgent investigation after rain water leak at revamped art gallery

New stairwell at the National Gallery in Edinburgh is closed to public for several days

An urgent investigation is underway at Scotland’s flagship art gallery after rain water began leaking into part of the building months after a multi-million refurbishment was completed.

Bosses were forced to put out a bucket and close off a stairwell at the National Gallery after the discovery of a drip in one of the new public areas at the historic attraction in Edinburgh’s city centre.

The stairwell, one of the major access routes into the 12 new exhibition spaces at the gallery, was out of bounds for several days due to the leak, which was spotted after a spate of recent downpours and strong winds in the city.

A stairwell at the south end of the National Gallery building in Edinburgh was closed after water began leaking into a newly refurbishment part of the complex.

The National Galleries of Scotland, which runs the vast complex on The Mound, has called in consultants and contractors who worked on the £38.62 million project to create new exhibition spaces for Scottish art treasures to try to identify the source of the leak.

Urgent repairs will be carried out at the A-listed building, which was Scotland's third busiest visitor attraction last year, once the source of the rain water leak is identified.

The National Galleries has admitted that parts of its roof had to be repaired at the end of last year after a previous water leak was discovered, but did not lead to the closure of any public areas.

The organisation has revealed it is looking at ways to “future proof” the site – designed by the architect William Henry Playfair and dating back to 1859 – to improve its ability to cope with “extreme weather events”.

A stairwell at the south end of the National Gallery building in Edinburgh was closed after water began leaking into a newly refurbishment part of the complex.

The National Galleries, which is directly funded by the Scottish Government, said it was in the process of carrying out “in-depth climate change risk assessments” at the gallery building, which showcases work by some of Scotland’s most celebrated artists spanning around 150 years.

Funded by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the long-awaited project, which was aimed at overhauling how Scottish art was showcased at the attraction and increasing access to the national collection, took around five years to complete.

Work by William McTaggart, Anne Redpath, Phoebe Anna Traquair, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, David Allan and William Dyce is showcased in the new spaces, which include an expanded main entrance to the gallery in East Princes Street Gardens. Drawn from the 60,000-strong Scottish collection held by the National Galleries, the drawings, watercolours, photographs and prints on display in the new exhibition spaces were all created from around 1800 to 1945.

The revamp, which was described as one of the most complex engineering projects undertaken in a heritage building in Scotland, involved extensive excavation beneath the original 1859 building, the transformation of an expansion created in the 1970s and the creation of new links with underground areas opened to the public 20 years ago.

A stairwell at the south end of the National Gallery building in Edinburgh was closed after water began leaking into a newly refurbishment part of the complex.

The revamp project was dogged by difficulties and delays before and during the construction work due to increasing costs, the Covid pandemic and the discovery of asbestos, damp penetration, water ingress issues and “inadequate drainage” in the 1970s extension.

However the project, which originally had a price tag of just £9 million and was completed five years later than originally envisaged, has almost doubled the amount of space devoted to Scottish art at the attraction.

The new galleries, which boast views overlooking East Princes Street Gardens, have replaced previous displays which were confined to a basement area that less than a fifth of visitors were said to venture into.

The closure of the southern stairwell in the attraction coincided with a shutdown of the gardens by Edinburgh City Council from 1pm on Saturday afternoon until 7am on Monday morning.

A stairwell at the south end of the National Gallery building in Edinburgh was closed after water began leaking into a newly refurbishment part of the complex.

A spokeswoman for the National Galleries said: “Following recent heavy rain and high, driving winds, a small drip of water appeared above the south stairs of the new Scottish galleries on Thursday (April 4).

"As a safety precaution to avoid a slip hazard, we took the decision to close the stairs from public use while we carried out further investigation into the cause of the drip. Levels 2-4 were fully accessible from the new Scottish galleries at all times via the lift and the front stairs. Visitors were still able to enjoy all our gallery spaces and no artworks were affected.

“This has been the only occasion where we have needed to close an area of the new Scottish galleries to the public since opening on September 30. This issue has become apparent only after the combination of heavy rain and high, driving winds last week."

The spokeswoman said the National Galleries was working closely with its consultancy team and the project contractor “to resolve the issue as quickly as possible”.

She said: “We are in the process of carrying out site investigations to trace the route of the drip, which will help us to determine any works which may be required to resolve the issue. Remedial works to the south stair will be carried out by our project consultants and contractor urgently.

"We do not currently have an estimated cost, but any defects will be rectified by our contractor. As a grade A-listed building of considerable age, ongoing repairs and maintenance works are routine and expected.”

New exhibition spaces dedicated to showcasing Scottish art treasures opened at the National Gallery in Edinburgh in September. Picture: Neil Hanna

The National Galleries insisted the impact of climate change was fully considered as part of one refurbishment project, which was in the planning for more than a decade.

Its spokeswoman said: “We improved the galleries’ resilience, addressing the increases in rainfall both with improved drainage and surface water management. We continue to look at ways we can further future-proof the National to improve its ability to cope with extreme weather events, and are in the process of carrying out in-depth climate change risk assessments.”

The design of the National Gallery revamp was led by Glasgow-based Hoskins Architect, who also worked on refurbishments of Aberdeen Art Gallery, the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre.

Key elements of the project included the creation of an “elegant” new southern stairwell to “signpost and unlock” routes to and from the new Scottish Galleries from the entrances to the attraction on The Mound and in the gardens.

Its website states: “Existing windows at the south end of the historic Mound-level galleries have been reopened, filling the new stair with light and helping visitors orientate themselves.”

The rain water leak has been revealed weeks after it emerged that the new exhibition space had helped attract record visitor numbers to the National Gallery last year, even though they were not unveiled until the end of September.

The venue recorded a 43.8 per year-on-year increase and was the third busiest attraction in Scotland, after Edinburgh Castle and the National Museum in Edinburgh. More than 1.83 million visitors flocked to The Mound in 2023 compared to 1.27 million in 2022 and 1.58 million in 2019, the last year before the Covid pandemic.

At the time the new attendance figures were revealed, National Galleries director-general Anne Lyden said the opening of the new exhibition spaces was “transforming” the visitor experience at The Mound.

She said: “Prior to the refurbishment, only 19 per cent of visitors to the National Gallery site made it to the Scottish wing of the galleries. Since the opening of the new Scottish galleries, this has increased to 62 per cent.”