Masterplan revealed for home of Australian artist Arthur Boyd

The masterplan for the $28.5 million redevelopment of the home of Australian artist Arthur Boyd has been unveiled by Bundanon Trust - the charity managing the property - with the plans expected to more than double visitation to the attraction.

Created by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA), who won a competition in November from a shortlist of six Australian firms, the masterplan details a new gallery, visitors centre and accommodation, with the redevelopment scheme seeking to boost the surrounding Shoalhaven region in southern NSW.

The design for the 1100-hectare Riversdale property gifted to the Australian people by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in 1993, includes a world-class creative learning centre for school students, a contemporary visitor hub, accommodation and a 380 metre² light-filled contemporary art gallery – partially buried into the landscape - that will display a much greater proportion of the Trust’s collection of 3,800 artworks, 1,300 of them by Boyd.

The design by KTA, the design reconstructs a hill previously destroyed to make room for a car park, with light-filled contemporary art gallery sitting within it. Within the structure, light will shine through the roof of the subterranean gallery, “capturing glimpses of the prevailing landscapes contrasts - between the dark forest and clearings - so that visitors can enjoy the artist’s imaginary Shoalhaven landscapes alongside the actual one surrounding them.”

The work will also include the additions of workshops, 32 bedrooms, learning spaces, a café and an arrival hall. These will be built inside a 140-metre-long by 9-metre-wide trestle bridge structure crossing two ridges over a gully on the property. At one end, the bridge will meet the gallery, while at the other end it will finish near an existing number of 19th century buildings.

Commenting on the masterplan, Bundanon Trust Chief Executive Deborah Ely stated “Kerstin Thompson and Megan Wraight have developed a design with a rare marriage of landscape and architecture that responds to and amplifies the qualities of the site.

“The design promises a transformed visitor experience and a building that is both iconic and responsive to site conditions.”

While preliminary approval has been granted for the project, the Trust is seeking funding  for the development from the Federal and NSW Governments, the Bundanon Trust.

Boyd’s collection, which includes works by leading Australian artists including Boyd peers Sidney Nolan, Charles Blackman, Brett Whiteley and John Perceval, as well as contemporary works drawn from participants in the Trust’s artist in residence program, is valued at $37.5 million.

Boyd - a leading Australian expressionist and landscape painter of the late 20th century - died in 1999. 

Images show Kerstin Thompson Architects masterplan for the Bundanon Trust's Riversdale property.

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