£91.2mn Gatsby gift to revitalise the Sainsbury Centre at University of East Anglia
Howard Lake | 21 May 2026 | News
The University of East Anglia (UEA) has received one of the largest ever donations made to a UK museum. The gift of £91.2 million was made by Lord David Sainsbury, channelled through Gatsby, his charitable foundation.
The donation will fund a major revitalisation of the Sainsbury Centre, the Grade II listed art museum on UEA’s Norwich campus, as it approaches its 50th anniversary. The building, designed by Lord Norman Foster and opened in 1978, is widely regarded as a landmark of modernist architecture, celebrated for its innovative use of light and space.
Foster + Partners, the same practice that created the original building, has been appointed to carry out the refurbishment. A feasibility study completed in 2024 identified three priority areas: the building’s envelope, its environmental systems, and key visitor amenities. Planned changes include a new roof incorporating photovoltaic panels, expected to halve energy consumption. The building will also connect to UEA’s district heating and cooling systems.
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Visitor-facing improvements will include renewed entrances, lifts, signage and flooring, together with extended café and terrace facilities and enhanced landscape connections to the surrounding sculpture trails. The project will contribute to UEA’s target of achieving a net zero campus by 2045.
Lord Sainsbury said the project gave him particular pleasure, noting that his father had always considered commissioning Norman Foster for the original building one of the best decisions he had ever made.
UEA Vice-Chancellor Professor David Maguire described the gift as “exceptionally generous,” and noted the museum’s importance to students, staff, and the wider public. Around 1.1 million people visit the Sainsbury Centre and Sculpture Park each year.
Jago Cooper, the Centre’s executive director, said the gift would secure its future and allow Foster’s radical museum vision to be revitalised for the next generation.
The Sainsbury Centre was established following the donation of Sir Robert and Lady Lisa Sainsbury’s collection to UEA in 1973. It remains one of the most visited art museums in the UK.
- Julia Rausing Trust gives £16.7mn to UK cathedrals, botanic gardens, museums & galleries (10 December 2024)
- A Better World is Possible: The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Social Progress (book)
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.