SYDNEY MODERN MOVING FORWARD
28 Nov 2018
Planning approval for the $344 million development of the Sydney Art Gallery of NSW has been received, propelling the project forward toward construction to start in early 2019.
Planning approval for the Gallery means doubling the Gallery’s exhibition space and the number of art-loving patrons that visit each year.
Designed by Architects SANAA, the project is expected to inject more than $1 billion into the state economy over 25 years.
The green light comes after the Gallery’s development application was submitted late last year. The $344 million project represents the largest public-private partnerships of its kind in the Australian arts, with the NSW Government allocating $244 million in funds, and the Gallery attracting “unprecedented philanthropic support” on the “cusp of reaching its $100 million target”.
It’s the only art museum in Australia to receive a 6-star Green Star design rating by the Green Building Council of Australia. “We are setting a new standard for art museums becoming the first in the nation to achieve the highest environmental standard for design,” Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand stated.
The project will expand the display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks, with visitors entering the new building seeing indigenous art first.
“The Gallery’s new building brings together art, architecture and landscape in spectacular new ways.”
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin said the development approval paves the way for a remarkable project to be realised, with visitation expected to increase to two million people a year.
Construction of the new Sydney Modern building will begin early next year and be completed in time for the gallery’s 150th anniversary in 2021.
Images Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA