In a city of glass and steel, the design for the new Vancouver Art Gallery will incorporate some much-needed warmth into our city’s skyline. The bold design by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron will use wood and geometric building blocks to create something that will have a lasting impact on our cityscape. We think for the better. The Blu Crew gives two thumbs up.

• The new building will boast 310,000 square feet and stand at 230 feet (21 storeys) high
• 85,000 of those square feet will be dedicated to exhibition space, more than doubling the real estate of the current VAG site
• VAG's permanant collection of more than 10,000 works will find a home in half of the gallery's new space
• The estimated cost of the project is $350 million and includes a $50 million endownment to support overhead operational costs 
• Herzog & de Meuron brings world-class experience, having worked on projects such as the Tate Modern in London and the Perez Art Museum in Miami (to name just a few)
• It will incorporate a new library and education centre with 350 seats
• If all things stay on schedule, construction could begin as soon as 2017

 

Images Courtesy of http://future.vanartgallery.bc.ca/