Tony Whitehead of Defence Estates salutes the functional, effective Walsall Art Gallery but finds the Sainsbury Wing spineless

I think the New Walsall Art Gallery is a wonderful building: iconic but restrained. Living as I do in the West Midlands, it鈥檚 always pleasant to take friends there. The glass and stainless steel-clad reception area at the base means that the facade鈥檚 terracotta tiles seem to float above it. It鈥檚 close to a canal, so the effect suits the site really well. Although the glazing appears random from the outside, its functionality becomes apparent when you鈥檙e inside and the windows frame unexpected views 鈥� rather like Tate Modern does, but more effectively. Even everyday views become interesting in the way they鈥檙e framed. Birmingham has the big art galleries, but Walsall has its interesting, quirky collections, and the building suits them wonderfully.

I鈥檓 quite often in Whitehall for meetings, and on my journey to them I tend to pass through Trafalgar Square. The Sainsbury Wing is maybe an easy hit for a blunder 鈥� its history is well known. It鈥檚 beautifully built, and the scale-height massing and use of natural stone are appropriately deferential to the National Gallery. But it always looks sad and ineffectual, as if it鈥檚 cowering in the corner, saying 鈥淚鈥檓 not really a classical building, don鈥檛 hit me鈥�. It鈥檚 the antithesis if the in-your-face, confident assertiveness a classical building is meant to possess.

Tony Whitehead is head of architecture and construction policy for Defence Estates