Construction of 拢45m 鈥榝loating鈥 museum to begin in 2013

V&A Dundee

V&A Dundee

Plans for a 鈥榝loating鈥 V&A museum in Dundee have been approved by the city鈥檚 council.

Construction of the 拢45m project 鈥 designed by Japanese architecture practice Kengo Kuma and Associates 鈥 is scheduled to begin in 2013 and be completed in 2015.

The building will be constructed at the end of a pier and has the appearance of floating on the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea.

Councillors gave the project their unanimous approval at a meeting on 17 September.

The project will receive 拢9.2m of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and will receive at least 拢18m in total from the Scottish government over the course of its development.

The V&A at Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd 鈥 a partnership between the Victoria & Albert Museum, Dundee City Council, the Universities of Dundee and Abertay Dundee and Scottish Enterprise.

Philip Long, director of V&A at Dundee, said: 鈥淲e are delighted that planning permission has been granted. This is obviously another significant milestone for the project and reflects the tremendous amount of work that has been carried out by everyone involved to bring us to this point.

鈥淭his now allows us to move further with elements of the design and building programme, including procurement and tendering, and we will be doing that in due course. Elsewhere, we continue to make good progress in fundraising for the project, and also in developing an exciting programme for V&A at Dundee.

鈥淭here is much to do to bring the project to fruition, so we welcome the very strong support we continue to receive from all of our partners, and especially the public, who have been extremely enthusiastic about the prospect of V&A at Dundee.鈥

Commenting on this latest development in the project, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said:鈥淭his is a significant step forward in realising the vision for the V&A at Dundee, an international cultural project which has the potential to bring great benefits to the city and the whole of Scotland.

鈥淚t will attract visitors from all over the world and presents an opportunity to strengthen Dundee鈥檚 reputation as a centre for the creative industries.

鈥淭he Scottish Government has committed more than 拢18 million towards this pioneering project which is at the centre of Dundee鈥檚 regeneration. Our substantial financial contribution demonstrates this Government鈥檚 commitment to continue investing in capital projects such as this to support economic recovery and create more jobs.鈥