National Portrait Gallery to join our Summer Awards 2023 all-female judging panel

Above: Ros Lawler, COO of the National Portrait Gallery (courtesy National Portrait Gallery)

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Ros Lawler, Chief Operating Officer at the National Portrait Gallery is to join our all-female judging panel for our Summer Awards 2023, to be held at The Haymarket Hotel, London this June.

Ros has over 20 years’ experience of working with world leading commercial and not for profit organisations including Channel 4, Radio 1, Random House Publishing and Tate, with a focus on digital strategy and change management. Ros is now Chief Operating Officer at the National Portrait Gallery where she is working on Inspiring People – a three-year and £40m project which will transform the Gallery.

From the arrival of Napster in the music industry to on-demand viewing in broadcast, from the e-book revolution to changing funding models in charity, her work has focused on helping organisations adapt to seismic industry shifts and changing consumer behaviour.

She joins our awards event just days before the re-opening of the National Portrait Gallery which has been closed to allow for extensive renovations.

London's National Portrait Gallery has undertaken its biggest redevelopment since the building in St Martin's Place opened in 1896. The project, 'Inspiring People', has involved a significant refurbishment of the building and enhanced the Gallery’s visibility and accessibility. Jamie Fobert Architects has led the design alongside historic specialists Purcell and a highly skilled design team. The practice states:

'Ewan Christian’s original building is both handsome and rich in decorative detail. Our work has focussed on revealing this building and working with it to create a new, open and welcoming National Portrait Gallery. The new NPG will reopen to the public on 22 June 2023.

'A new public forecourt and generous entrance hall allow space for arrival and gathering appropriate to the stature of the Gallery. Drawing on the building’s rich history of mosaic, the surface of the forecourt will be a contemporary interpretation of Ewan Christian’s mosaic floors.

'The redevelopment plans include a complete re-display and re-interpretation of the Gallery’s collection across forty refurbished galleries, presenting a greater and more diverse selection of portraits; the creation of new retail and catering facilities; and a new Learning Centre for visitors of all ages with studios, breakout spaces, and high-quality practical facilities.'

'The redevelopment plans include a complete re-display and re-interpretation of the Gallery’s collection across forty refurbished galleries, presenting a greater and more diverse selection of portraits; the creation of new retail and catering facilities; and a new Learning Centre for visitors of all ages with studios, breakout spaces, and high-quality practical facilities.

Below: National Portrait Gallery, London (Courtesy Jamie Fobert Architects)