AUCKLAND, NZ.- Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki is set to join the ranks of major art museums on the world stage with the launch of its plan for a multi-million dollar restoration and expansion. The much-anticipated plan for the $90 million development, released this morning, is set to secure Auckland’s place as home to New Zealand’s pre-eminent public art gallery.

The plan includes earthquake-proofing and heritage restoration of the 1887 and 1916 components of the main building combined with contemporary new additions that will see display space increased by fifty per cent.

The development will enable the gallery to better meet stringent international lending requirements, host bigger exhibitions of more varied kinds and display more of its 13,000 strong collection more often.

The Mayor of Auckland City, Dick Hubbard, says the heritage restoration and expansion of the Auckland Art Gallery will put New Zealand on the international map.

“We have embarked on an ambitious project to take what we love most about the gallery and future-proof it for the community it serves, while also creating a place that inspires all New Zealanders,” says Mr Hubbard.

“This is a new home of truly international quality for a collection of national importance. The council is committed to the project and has confirmed its commitment by way of financial support to the tune of $25 million,” he says.

The plan details an extension of the gallery to the north and east, with a major new entrance facing Khartoum Place to make the building more open to its city setting and more integrated with Albert Park.

“In four years time the public will experience New Zealand’s finest art collection in an entirely different way. While extending and adapting our existing spaces, we also wanted to seize the opportunity to reinvent their uses.

“This project is not just about creating more dynamic and flexible spaces for art, it is about programming those spaces in ways that will ultimately expand the audience for art,” says gallery director, Chris Saines.

“We want to make the gallery friendlier to families, more relevant to young people and more inviting to the community. With this in mind, we wanted a design that made the gallery feel as transparent and inviting as possible.

“While we are yet to determine the final layout of the display and exhibition spaces, the public can expect to see more of the best of our historical collections and considerably more of our contemporary holdings when the building reopens in 2009.

“We owe a huge debt of thanks to the project’s lead architect Richard Francis-Jones and the Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp + Archimedia team for producing such an imaginative and functional design,” says Mr Saines.

Richard Francis-Jones from says the project team has been working hard to develop a design that respects the current iconic gallery building and reflects its adjacency to Albert Park.

"The newly developed Auckland Art Gallery will be an exciting, vibrant and welcoming 'place of art' created at the intersection of Albert Park and the central city, providing a unique urban focus and diverse cultural experience," says Mr Francis-Jones.

"It has developed from a concept which relates as much to the organic natural forms of the landscape as it does from architectural order and character of the important heritage buildings. The new building is characterised through a series of fine ‘tree-like’ canopies that define and cover the entry forecourt, atrium and gallery areas. These light-profiled forms ‘hover’ over the stone walls and terraces creating a memorable image closely related to the beautiful overhanging canopy of pohutukawa trees,” he says.

The Urban Design Panel has offered support to this important public project and has given the design team feedback on the preliminary design to assist with the design process going forward. Construction is expected to commence late 2006.