Work to start on Sydney Modern next year
Construction of the multimillion-dollar Sydney Modern gallery will start next year after its designs were given the green light.
Construction of the multimillion-dollar Sydney Modern gallery will start next year after its designs were given the green light.
The NSW Minister for the Arts Don Harwin this week announced the $344 million project had been approved.
The gallery will be built to the rear of the Art Gallery of NSW.
The new building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects SANAA, will almost double the current exhibition space.
Gallery bosses say it will enable them to show more of their outstanding art collection and host more of the best exhibitions from around the world.
They predict it will increase visitor numbers to an expected two million people a year.
Plans state the gallery will include a prominent destination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
There will also be a large gallery for major exhibitions, a contemporary art space repurposed from a decommissioned WWII oil tank and spaces for family, learning and educational programming to double student and teacher visits to 200,000 annually.
A public Art Garden will link the new and existing buildings.
Art Gallery of NSW director Dr Michael Brand said the project’s planning approval was a green light for art, artists and audiences.
“The Art Gallery of NSW is delighted that its expansion plans have been approved to create an art museum experience that brings together art, architecture and landscape in one of the most beautiful cultural precincts in the world.
“Our transformed institution will represent Sydney’s bold spirit as a leading 21st-century art museum with a deep commitment to both Australian and international art.
“SANAA’s sublime building will deliver us much-needed new spaces to show more art to more people — a rightly ambitious goal for our great global city.”
The development is the largest public-private partnerships of its kind in the Australian arts. The NSW Government has funded $244 million, and the gallery has attracted a huge amount of philanthropic support.
The Capital Campaign, under the chairmanship of Gallery trustee Mark Nelson, is on the cusp of reaching its $100 million target.
Artist Ben Quilty, a trustee of the Gallery, said: “The Art Gallery of NSW is my church. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be an artist and resident of this state as our pre-eminent art museum expands. I’ll be there to watch it grow, and I’ll be there to celebrate its opening. I can’t wait. It’s time.”
The gallery will also be the first public art museum in Australia to achieve the highest environmental standard for design with a Green Building Council of Australia 6-star Green Star design rating, exceeding its original 5-star goal.
“Achieving a 6-star Green Star design rating is testament to the high-quality design of the Gallery’s expansion and our commitment to sustainability. We are helping set a new international standard for art museums,” Dr Brand said.
Among the building’s sustainability initiatives include rainwater harvesting, extensive solar panels and a seawater heat exchange system for airconditioning.
SANAA has designed some of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the Louvre’s satellite museum in Lens, France and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.
Construction will start early next year and is due for completion in 2019. The Art Gallery of NSW will remain open during construction.
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