Vancouver Art Gallery selects architectural team to design new building | Daily Hive

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

The Vancouver Art Gallery announced today the selection of a joint partnership between Formline Architecture and Urbanism and KPMB Architects as the replacement lead design team for its long-anticipated building at Larwill Park in downtown Vancouver.

Chosen from proposals submitted by 14 of Canada’s leading architectural firms, the partnership of West Vancouver-based Formline Architecture and Urbanism and Toronto-based KPMB Architects was endorsed by the Gallery’s Board of Trustees after a review by the Architect Selection Committee.

Board leaders, artists, benefactors, construction professionals, and an advisory panel of architects and real estate specialists weighed in on the architectural firm selection process, which began in early 2025.

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“The selection of Formline + KPMB to envision the new Gallery is a bold and topical statement supporting Canadian innovation and excellence,” said Jon Stovell, chair of the board for the Gallery and the president and CEO of Reliance Properties.

“KPMB Architects brings a proven track record for creating elegant, world-class museums that centre art and community, while B.C.–based Formline Architecture + Urbanism leads with an Indigenous design vision that is both contemporary and deeply rooted in tradition.”

Sirish Rao and Eva Respini, interim CEOs of the Gallery, added, “This is the largest cultural infrastructure project in Vancouver in over 30 years and we are thrilled to partner with Formline + KPMB to work towards a Gallery that supports storytelling, convening, innovation and access to art and ideas.”

Formline brings experience in designing mass-timber buildings and local cultural facilities, particularly those rooted in Indigenous history and identity, with projects such as UBC’s Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre and the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler.

KPMB’s portfolio includes major cultural landmarks across Canada, among them Calgary’s Arts Commons transformation and Contemporary Calgary, the Montreal Holocaust Museum, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Ottawa Art Gallery expansion, and the Toronto International Film Festival’s Lightbox.

The new conceptual design is expected in 2026, but no revised timeline has been provided for the project’s completion.

At this stage, no updated cost estimate has been established for the project.

The previous project 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.

Alfred Waugh, founder and principal of Formline, notes that his team’s design will celebrate Vancouver’s vibrant culture, honour Indigenous peoples, and pay tribute to the local mountains and rainforests.

“Our team is deeply honoured to receive the commission to design the new Vancouver Art Gallery, as it brings my personal journey full circle in a profound way. My mother left this world too early, and during my formative years, she asked me to do something meaningful for our people—a request that has sparked my journey into architecture,” said Waugh.

Bruce Kuwabara, a founding partner at KPMB Architects, said, “It’s an honour to collaborate with Alfred Waugh and Formline to help shape the future of an institution that holds such profound cultural and civic significance for Vancouver and British Columbia — places that express a diversity of world views all at once. Following their release from an internment camp in British Columbia, my family relocated to Hamilton, where I was born. Returning to the province to design the Vancouver Art Gallery is deeply meaningful for me.”

Construction on the Larwill Park parking lot site first began in March 2024 with excavation, with work suddenly suspended in Summer 2024 after it became clear the project could not be built within its budget.

When complete, the Gallery will fully relocate from its longtime home in the heritage courthouse building next to Robson Square.

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