In 2001, as part of the National Lottery funded program of arts investment, Cheltenham planned to enlarge the existing Art Gallery and accommodate the expanding Arts and Crafts collection of the Museum.

The scheme rationalises the labyrinthine circulation of the existing agglomeration of buildings, that were originally inaugurated as a gallery in 1899 and subsequently added to and adapted in a piecemeal fashion over the next 100 years.

Partly in recognition of its nationally important Arts and Crafts collection, the values adopted by the Arts & Crafts movement became an important influence for the building, with the expressive use of materials revealing the process and craft of construction. The facade and roof are in Corten steel and the concrete structure is expressed internally as exposed coffered ceilings and walls.