British ColumbiaFor several weeks at the corner of West Georgia and Cambie, crews have been filling in the excavation work already completed on the new art gallery site, at one point set to open in 2028, but now back to the drawing board with a new architects taking over a scaled-down project.Gallery leader hails experience and Indigenous perspective of new architects for beleagured projectLiam Britten · CBC News · Posted: Oct 06, 2025 7:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoA view from above of the site of the future Vancouver Art Gallery. Construction plans for the new gallery have been interrupted by rising costs. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)Asphalt artists wielding heavy machinery have been paving over the planned home of the new Vancouver Art Gallery, leading some to ask when the magnum opus of the city’s cultural scene will finally rise from its concrete canvas.For several weeks at the corner of West Georgia and Cambie, crews have been filling in the excavation work already completed on the new art gallery site, at one point set to open in 2028, but now back to the drawing board with a new architects taking over a scaled-down project.”We’re kind of starting from zero again,” said Amy Nugent, executive director urban planning non-profit Urbanarium.”It’s like now we have to reawaken the space and new designs have to be created and approved — and in that time, will cost continue to increase?”Urbanarium director Amy Nugent stands at the future home of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which is set to be a parking-lot-in-residency for an undetermined amount of time. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)For now, the gallery organization has confirmed that, despite $60 million already being spent on on planning and pre-construction work, the next paintings to be featured at the future gallery will be painted stall lines with a parking lot planned for the site, operated by Easy Park.”This arrangement is an interim measure only and will conclude once construction of the new gallery begins,” a spokesperson told CBC News in an email.New architects in chargeMeanwhile, the gallery announced two new architects to helm a redesigned project.Chipewyan architect Alfred Waugh, according to gallery interim co-CEO Eva Respini, brings “traditional Indigenous knowledge and thinks about it through the lens of contemporary architecture.”Waugh is the president and founder of North Vancouver-based Formline Architecture. His projects include First People’s House at the University of Victoria and the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia.Waugh is partnering with Bruce Kuwabara. Respini called his Toronto-based firm KPMB “the best-known firm within Canada” having designed a number of cultural institutions in Canada.”So that partnership, of deep experience, proven experience, with an Indigenous-led approach is very exciting to us at the gallery,” Respini told On The Coast.State of the arts in CanadaFor decades, the Vancouver Art Gallery has sought a new home to better accommodate its collections, now held in the former courthouse on Hornby Street built in 1906.A previous design proposal for the new Vancouver Art Gallery. (Vancouver Art Gallery)In 2013, the site at West Georgia and Cambie was chosen by city council. Ground broke in 2024 for a planned nine-storey, 350,000 square-foot gallery with classrooms, artist studios, an Indigenous community space, a theatre, a number of restaurants and some retail, among its exhibition spaces.But later that year, the gallery foundation confirmed major cost increases — a price tag rising from $400 million to $600 million — and then the building, as planned, was scrapped.Over the summer, the gallery announced deep cuts to its programming and staffing to try and balance its budget.Nugent notes many arts organizations in Canada are struggling in the face of dwindling government funds.A view of the future parking lot — and at some point after that, future art gallery — at West Georgia and Cambie streets in Vancouver. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)”We’re looking at a $60-million project here — having it been repaved,” said Nugent. “So there’s already been money taken out of the original budget … can we get the money to make this gallery happen and who will step up and make it a priority?”Despite the setbacks, the art gallery says donations totalling $140 million are still in the bank for the future project.The gallery spokesperson said there is no updated timeline for construction.ABOUT THE AUTHORLiam Britten is an award-winning journalist for CBC Vancouver. You can contact him at liam.britten@cbc.ca or follow him on Twitter: @liam_britten.With files from Michelle Ghoussoub and On The Coast
Future home of the Vancouver Art Gallery turned back into parking lot
