LONDON.- London's Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art which is currently being renovated has unveiled plans for a contemporary conservatory which will extend the café into the garden. Architect Nathaniel Gee is overseeing major upgrades to improve the infrastructure of the building and to update visitor facilities. The Estorick is currently closed to visitors and reopens on 13 January 2017.

Regular visitors to the Estorick will notice some dramatic changes to the building when it reopens in January. These include:

• the new conservatory - a contemporary structural glass extension which will become part of the café and connect directly to the secluded garden

• a new entrance hall and revamped café, allowing freer movement through to the gallery spaces

• a series of accessible ramps at the Canonbury Square entrance which will vastly improve accessibility to the building

• an improved and enlarged shop with new cloakroom area

• new lighting and an emphasis on natural daylight within the galleries

• new and up to date air-conditioning in all galleries

• upgraded toilet facilities

The museum will reopen in January 2017, with a rehang of the permanent collection and a new exhibition, War in the Sunshine: The British in Italy 1917-1918.

The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is internationally renowned for its core of Futurist works. It comprises some 120 paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and sculptures by many of the most prominent Italian artists of the Modernist era. There are six galleries, two of which are used for temporary exhibitions. Since opening in 1998, the Estorick has established a reputation and gained critical acclaim as a key venue for bringing Italian art to the British public.