Australian architecture firm Angelo Candalepas and Associates has been selected by the Victorian Government and the National Gallery of Victoria to design Australia's largest NGV Contemporary Art Gallery dedicated to contemporary art and design. The 30,000-square-metre Victorian landmark will feature a striking arched entrance, a 40-metre-high spherical hall, over 13,000 square metres of exhibition halls, a spacious roof terrace overlooking Melbourne and a sculpture garden.
This triangular site provides a unique architectural landmark with passages that run through the building, connecting the park to the South Bank, unifying the surrounding Melbourne Arts District with the wider community. The award-winning design provides a spacious and accessible building with large arched public entrances from the corner of New Public Park, South Shore Avenue and Kavanagh Street. The building's east façade contains a multi-storey balcony that provides external access between the building floors, as well as expansive views of the Melbourne skyline.
Upon entering the gallery, visitors will see a visually inspired space by omphalos, the ancient Greek word for the center of the earth. A central spherical hall rises more than 40 meters upwards, spanning the various floors of the building, connecting to a lantern in the sky. This huge hall will serve as a gallery to display large works of art and will allow visitors to walk through the building through a spiral passage. As visitors walk through the space, they will experience a journey through the building's floors, entering the roof terrace.
Featuring unprecedented large formats and highly flexible exhibition spaces, the design is equipped with a state-of-the-art display system that enables NGV to showcase important contemporary art and design works by Australian and international artists. To further promote the full range of cultural experiences, the design also provides educational spaces, studios and laboratories that preserve artworks. The gallery also features several supporting facilities such as a large café directly connected to the extended public park and a new NGV design shop. Taking advantage of the building's unique location, as well as vistas of Melbourne's CBD, park and Yarra Mountains, the project boasts a panoramic communal roof terrace and a sculpture garden accessible from it.