Vancouver Art Gallery scraps design for new building after costs soared to $600M
Removal of Swiss architect Herzog & de Meuron came after feedback from artists, supporters, stakeholders: CEO
The Vancouver Art Gallery has announced it will scrap the design of its proposed new building and bring in a new architecture partner in what is the latest hurdle to the now-$600 million project.
Earlier this year, the gallery announced the costs of the much delayed project had ballooned by 50 per cent, and paused construction at the site, situated at the corner of Cambie and West Georgia streets.
On Tuesday, the art gallery's CEO announced it is seeking an entirely new direction and that the current Swiss architecture firm of Herzog & de Meuron had been removed.
"Our goal is to create a building that embodies a diverse and inclusive artistic vision while ensuring financial sustainability within a fixed budget," wrote VAG CEO Anthony Kiendl in a statement.
"We recognize that inflation has put tremendous pressure on our plans, as it has done with many capital projects following the pandemic. It has become clear that we require a new way forward to meet both our artistic mission and vision and our practical needs."
The CEO said the VAG board's decision to jettison the architectural firm came after feedback from artists, supporters and stakeholders.
"Over the coming months, we will schedule a series of opportunities at the Gallery to share more about the next phase of the project and discuss it with our [members] and communities," Kiendl said.
The CEO did not say how the timeline for the project — which was set to open in 2028 — would be affected by the change in design or what the effect on cost would be.
A new building for the art gallery was proposed as far back as 2008 and had received over $100 million in funding from the provincial government.
A "ground-awakening" ceremony was held at the new site in September 2023, and construction began this March before it was paused in late August.
The redesigned project by Herzog & de Meuron proposed a thin, veil-like copper facade designed to incorporate traditional Coast Salish weaving methods.
It was originally designed to be nine storeys tall and span 350,000 square feet. CBC News has contacted Herzog & de Meuron for this story.
Philanthropist prefers B.C. or Canadian architect
Michael Audain, a prominent B.C. businessman and arts funder who owns his own art museum in Whistler, has donated over $100 million towards the redesign and has sat on the VAG board for decades.
He told CBC News that he had heard recently the board was going to redesign the building for a second time amid funding challenges, and was unsurprised by the news the architect was changing.
"I thought it was a very sound design, a very, very impressive design on the whole," he said.
"But it was obviously the way it had been engineered and structured, it was going to be very expensive."
Audain said the redesigned art gallery should include a larger permanent section that focuses on B.C. and Northwest Coast art — and argued that the new architect should be Canadian.
"I certainly don't think we need to go abroad," Audain said. "We can find someone to design a very wonderful building, I'm sure, in this country and hopefully actually in British Columbia."
Bob Rennie, another local businessman and arts funder, called the VAG redesign process up to this point a "waste of taxpayer money and philanthropy."
"It's disappointing to see anything in my city fail. I think it looks very bad for the city, but since 2012, there's never been a concrete plan. It's always been imaginary," he told CBC News.
A spokesperson for the VAG board said that it started to work on the project over 15 years ago, and it has racked up $60 million in planning and pre-construction costs so far.
Rennie is pushing for an audit and case study so the project's struggles would never happen again in a public institution.
"There seems to be an addiction to new, and I think it's maybe a time to really look at all options," he said.
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With files from Richard Thériault and Michelle Gomez