An artist's rendering of the NEXT Gallery at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's 1040 Moss Street lands. The $30 million expansion project has seen its budget rise nearly 50% in four years while construction timelines have been pushed back. HCMA Architecture + Design.
Art gallery expansion project sees budget rise by 43%, construction start pushed back
CITIFIED.CA STAFF
Published August 12, 2019
Updated at 11:16AM on August 16, 2019
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s (AGGV) $21 million NEXT Gallery expansion project is now forecasted to cost $30 million.
The NEXT Gallery concept, comprised of nearly 20,000 square feet of modern exhibition and collection space, an auditorium, a sculpture garden and a café, received municipal approvals in 2015 following its reveal in 2012, while building permits were applied for in December of 2018 in anticipation of a mid-2019 construction start.
| |
The provincial government has given $6 million towards the project, while private donors have contributed at least $5 million, leaving the budget significantly short of its funding goal of $30 million (43% higher than the budget identified in 2018 on the AGGV's website) which has forced the postponement of construction. The federal government has identified upwards of $10 million in funding, although no monies have been committed at this time.
NEXT Gallery’s design is a joint effort between Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture, Moore Wilson Architects (now Studio 531 Architects) and HCMA Architecture + Design, and features an angled stainless steel exterior with a tiled pattern throughout. Glass curtain walls with concrete accents will lend an open, airy feel to the gallery entrance, a major departure from the existing building at 1040 Moss Street.
A ground floor glass-encased walkway will connect the gallery's historic Spencer Mansion. Parking for 26 vehicles, three scooters/motorcycles and 50 bicycles will be provided on-site.
A 220 seat auditorium-style theatre will be situated on the ground floor adjacent to a café. Expanded spaces for permanent and flex collections, together with a significant increase in storage space round out the key benefits of the new facility which will rise adjacent to the gallery's historic wing.
Opened in the 1950’s in Victoria’s Rockland neighbourhood, the AGGV has grown to become the second largest public art gallery in British Columbia in terms of its art collection, and welcomes approximately 100,000 visitors annually while some 250,000 individuals access the gallery’s online resources each year. C
© Copyright 2019 by Citified.ca. All rights reserved.
Article resources
- Track the NEXT Gallery with Citified | Discuss the NEXT Gallery and the AGGV on VibrantVictoria
- Looking for a new-build home or commercial space in Victoria? Use Citified to research new-build condos, rentals and commercial spaces
- Follow Citified on Twitter
- Connect with Citified on Facebook:
You may be interested in:
The Residences on Sooke Harbour the first condo project to rise in Sooke in nearly a decade
Comments
STAY CONNECTED TO CITIFIED