ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV

London’s Tate Modern has announced plans to build a £215m glass extension.

Designed by architect Herzog & de Meuron, the 11-storey building will add 60% more space to the museum to accommodate the 4m visitors the gallery receives each year.

The 23,000 m² space will house several galleries and performance zones, as well as cafes, shops and offices.

It is hoped the extension, which will be funded by private investors and grants, including £7m from the London Development Agency, will be open in time for the Olympics in 2012.

The design is the latest by Herzog & de Meuron, who converted the Bankside power station into Tate Modern in 1995. The firm also designed the Olympic stadium in Beijing.

Architect Jacques Herzog said the extension was a ‘unique opportunity’ for the firm.

‘We don’t have a strategy to make it a spectacle, we just tried to discover what made sense [for the Tate],’ he said.

‘We are at a different point of our career [from when we first converted the power station]. It’s a unique opportunity to work on the same building at a different point of our lives.’

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota said the extension would be a ‘counterpart’ to the Olympic developments in East London, as well as creating a cultural quarter in London.

The tower will be subject to planning approval later in the year.