Construction to begin next month on new landmark Vancouver Art Gallery

Artistic rendering of the new Vancouver Art Gallery building. (Herzog & de Meuron/Perkins&Will/Vancouver Art Gallery)

After more than a decade and a half of planning, the project to build a brand-new replacement and expanded home for the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) will reach its most significant milestone yet next month.

The VAG confirmed today the official construction groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for September 15, 2023.

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Both the provincial government and VAG had previously indicated this past spring they were preparing for a construction start this fall. The temporary modular housing structures in place on the northern end of the Larwill city block where the new VAG will be located closed in late July and this parcel will be vacated for use as the construction staging and storage area for the VAG project.

The provincial government previously confirmed impacted residents will be relocated to nearby housing sites. When the temporary modular housing site was approved in 2018, the intention was to provide it with an on-site lifespan of three to five years.

The future VAG building will be constructed on the southern half of the Larwill city block at the northeast corner of the intersection of West Georgia Street and Cambie Street, immediately east of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and adjacent to SkyTrain Stadium-Chinatown Station.

vancouver art gallery larwill park parking lot

Site of the future home of the Vancouver Art Gallery at 668 Cambie Street. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

larwill place temporary modular housing 610-620 Cambie Street Vancouver

The future site of the Vancouver Art Gallery (foreground) and the existing temporary modular housing (background) at the Larwill Place city block. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

As of April 2023, the VAG told Daily Hive Urbanized it had raised over $340 million (85%) of its total fundraising target to build the new world-class art gallery building, including a $50 million endowment as an operating subsidy for the building.

This includes $100 million from local developer and art philanthropist Michael Audain, $40 million from the family of Christian Chan of the Burrard Group, $30 million from the federal government, and $100 million from the provincial government, including $50 million from the provincial government’s original 2008 commitment by then-Premier Gordon Campbell.

The City of Vancouver has provided VAG with the land — currently largely used as a surface vehicle parking lot — for a nominal lease.

Revised 2021 design of the new building for the Vancouver Art Gallery at Larwill Park. (Vancouver Art Gallery)

2021 design of the new Vancouver Art Gallery. (Herzog & de Meuron/Perkins + Will)

The stacked landmark architectural concept designed by Switzerland-based Herzog & de Meuron and the Vancouver office of Perkins&Will spans 301,000 sq ft of total building floor area, including 82,000 sq ft of gallery space — more than twice the space at the VAG’s existing home in the former courthouse building at Robson Square.

The building will reach a height of 228 ft and contain 10 high-ceiling floors.

There will also be event and meeting spaces, extensive outdoor public spaces including a courtyard, and a flagship restaurant location.

2021 design of the new Vancouver Art Gallery. (Herzog & de Meuron/Perkins + Will)

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