Construction site of new Vancouver Art Gallery reverts to parking lot | Daily Hive

Return of a pay parking lot on a temporary basis at the future site of the new Vancouver Art Gallery, as seen on Oct. 16, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

The inactive construction site for the new Vancouver Art Gallery building has been temporarily converted back into a pay parking lot.

Site preparation — including demolition and some excavation of the previous surface parking lot foundations — began in Spring 2024, but construction was suspended shortly afterward when it became apparent the project’s previous design could not be built within its budget. The fenced-off Larwill Park site has remained idle and covered with gravel since Summer 2024.

However, this large downtown Vancouver site at the northeast corner of West Georgia Street and Cambie Street has now been temporarily rehabilitated, with the former excavation area and gravel surface replaced by freshly paved asphalt and marked parking stalls. The parking lot at the site reopened earlier this week.

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In statements to Daily Hive Urbanized, the City of Vancouver — which owns the property and has leased it to the Gallery for the new building — and the Gallery said the municipal government has permitted pay-parking operator EasyPark to use the site while the project undergoes a complete redesign under a new team of architects.

“This arrangement is an interim measure only and will conclude once construction of the new Gallery begins,” reads the statement from the City and Gallery.

vancouver art gallery construction site parking lot

Return of a pay parking lot on a temporary basis at the future site of the new Vancouver Art Gallery, as seen on Oct. 16, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Construction at the site is not expected to resume for some time, with the return of pay parking providing a temporary active use for the site and some revenue in the meantime.

Late last month, the Gallery announced it had selected a joint partnership between Formline Architecture and Urbanism and KPMB Architects as the new lead design team. The decision followed a competition held earlier this year that invited 14 Canadian architectural firms to submit proposals.

A new conceptual design is expected in 2026, although no revised timeline has been provided for the project’s completion. After a design is created, the project will need to enter the development application and building permit application stages.

At this early stage, an updated cost estimate has also not been established.

Return of a pay parking lot on a temporary basis at the future site of the new Vancouver Art Gallery, as seen on Oct. 16, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

The previous project’s design and scope had a budget of $400 million. However, it was abandoned after significant cost overruns reaching $600 million, which also led to the departure of Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron in late 2024.

The new replacement design is expected to be smaller in scope to better align with the available budget, based on what has been fundraised from private sources and the provincial and federal governments.

Temporary supportive housing structures at the northern end of the city block were also removed in early 2024 in preparation for the use of the footprint as an interim construction staging area for the new Gallery building.

Nearby, construction is currently well underway on redesigning the two-block stretch of Beatty Street between Smithe Street and West Georgia Street with new permanent bike lanes, replacing the interim bike lanes put in place since 2016. This project is expected to reach completion in December 2025.

vancouver art gallery construction march 13 2024

Construction work on the site of the future new Vancouver Art Gallery on March 13, 2024. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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