# £91.2mn Gatsby gift to revitalise the Sainsbury Centre at University of East Anglia

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/05/21/91-2mn-gatsby-gift-to-revitalise-the-sainsbury-centre-at-university-of-east-anglia/
- Published: 2026-05-21T14:14:17+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**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.

![Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA. Building name seen in reverse through a
glass window, looking out onto grass and trees from the building's cafe.](https://
wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/05/sainsbury-centre-for-visual-arts-UEA-howard-
lake.jpeg)

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Photo: Howard Lake

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.

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 * **[A Better World is Possible: The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Social Progress](https://fundraising.co.uk/books/a-better-world-is-possible-the-gatsby-charitable-foundation-and-social-progress/)(
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