The architects Peter St John and Adam Caruso were selected following an open international competition. Construction of The New Art Gallery Walsall started in January 1997 and on completion in September 1999 the gallery was the largest built work of any British architect under 40 years of age.

Attracted by the range of spatial conditions, particularly the Garman Ryan Collection requirements, the architects created a big house both accessible and intimate. Their main challenge was to design galleries that were not general and top lit, but spaces on a domestic scale that people could engage with. The relationship between building and ordinary life remains central to their concerns.

Clad in pale terracotta tile the 4500 square metres building's facade with its 100 ft tower is randomly patterned with windows ranging in size from postcard to cinemascope. The gallery has its own shop window on the ground floor - a glazed installation space with a large window faces out towards the shopping street to capture the imagination of passers by. The building consists of six interconnected floors, each with their own character and function.

The rooms within the gallery are specifically tailored and are intended to be like a house: an intimate setting was created for the Garman Ryan Collection on Floors 1 and 2 which contrast sharply with the 6 metre high walls and clerestory lighting in the temporary exhibition spaces on  Floor 3.

Douglas Fir wood is used extensively within the structure to create a warm and inviting interior. The architects used concrete, which as a feature is unusual, with concrete joists exposed in many rooms with board-marked walls in many areas, particularly the staircase.