Four architectural firms shortlisted to design Melbourne’s new NGV Contemporary

Four major architectural and multi-disciplinary design teams have been shortlisted to take the next step in the NGV Contemporary Design Competition, bringing the project - Australia’s “biggest ever cultural infrastructure project” - another step closer to construction.

The Victorian Government today announced John Wardle Architects, Field, Angelo Candalepas and Associates, and Open Weave will continue to the final stage of the competition to design the largest facility of its kind in Australia, showcasing contemporary art, design, fashion and architecture of local, national and international significance.

Open to Australian architecture teams, the opportunity to design and build NGV Contemporary offers an unparalleled platform to showcase Australia’s world-leading design and architecture industries.

The shortlisted Australian teams will progress to design the new purpose-built NGV Contemporary creating 10,000 metre² of large-scale and flexible gallery spaces that will enable NGV to present works of a scale not currently possible in its existing sites.

The four shortlisted designs were selected by the NGV Contemporary Design Competition Jury for their innovative design, consideration of sustainability and connection to place.

NGV Contemporary will be located at 77 Southbank Boulevard in Southbank and will be dedicated to the showcasing of contemporary art, design, fashion and architecture of local, national and international significance amid a new 18,000 metre² public space in the heart of a transformed Melbourne Arts Precinct.

The four shortlisted teams will now progress to the second and final stage of the design competition in which they will further develop their design concepts. The successful design team will be announced in early 2022.

NGV Contemporary aims to strengthen the NGV’s reputation for promoting local and international art and design at its major pre-existing galleries - NGV International on St Kilda Road and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square.

Before the pandemic, NGV welcomed over three million visitors a year across its two gallery sites – St Kilda Road and Federation Square. With the addition of the new gallery, they expect this number to increase to four million.

Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, Danny Pearson stated “the new gallery is part of Australia’s largest ever cultural infrastructure project that will be at the heart of a reimagined Melbourne Arts Precinct and create thousands of local jobs.

“NGV Contemporary will showcase Australian design excellence to the world and create an extraordinary new gallery for all Victorians.”

The shortlisted architectural teams include:

John Wardle Architects
John Wardle Architects, OCULUS, Pierce Widera, Searle x Waldron Architecture, Greenshoot Consulting, Hecker Guthrie, Hodyl & Co, Atelier Ten, WSP, Steensen Varming, Fabio Ongarato Design, Phillip Chun, L’Observatoire International, Mott MacDonald

Field
Architectus, Edition Office, Durbach Block Jaggers, Openwork, Daniel Browning, Karen Milward, Lovell Chen, WSP, Finding Infinity, Surface Design, Speirs Major, Art Processors

Angelo Candalepas and Associates Pty Limited
Angelo Candalepas and Associates, Aspect Studios, Carr Interiors, Andy Fergus Design Strategy, BoardGrove Architects, Richard Stampton Architects, Steensen Varming, Mott MacDonald, TTW, Affinity Fire Engineering, Freeman Ryan Design, AX Interactive, Art of Fact

Open Weave
Grimshaw, Winwood Mckenzie, Baracco Wright, McGregor Coxall Australia, Foolscap, Relative Projects, 20-20 Studio, Flux Consultants, AECOM, Eckersley O’Callaghan, 2X4 Inc, Paul Memmott.

Image: Concept for the new NGV Contemporary.