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Located just a stone’s throw from Dresden Royal Palace, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery) was completed in 1854 and has been used as a gallery ever since. The building is the Elbe-facing wing of Dresden’s Zwinger Palace and was built in the Neo-Renaissance style according to plans by Gottfried Semper. The gallery was completely destroyed during the Second World War, with reconstruction completed in 1960. Despite the implementation of a comprehensive programme of refurbishment in the 1990s, extensive exploratory analysis of the building identified the need for another phase of refurbishment. Inadequate fire protection, air-conditioning and moisture damage to skylights, facades and windows were areas of particular concern.

The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister attracts more visitors than any other of the museums that form part of the Dresden State Art Collection. Its most famous exhibits include the Sistine Madonna, Tribute Money and work by Dürer, Bellotto and Vermeer. As a result of the huge numbers of visitors who pass through the gallery each year, parquet flooring and fabric wall coverings in particular exhibited significant wear and tear and were in need of refurbishment and replacement respectively.

The project also included upgrades in terms of accessibility, visitor guidance and art logistics, for example the networking of underground areas, the construction of new stairwells and the installation of new elevator systems. Energy efficiency was also enhanced by means of improvements to both the fabric of the building and building services.