The masterplan for the AU$28.5m (US$21.4m, €19m, £16.5m) 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 New South Wales.
The addition of the new gallery will enable the Bundanon Trust to display a much greater proportion of its AU$37.5m (US$28m, €25m, £21.8m) 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 the 400sq m (4,305sq ft) 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.
“The design concept both preserves and transforms, is equal parts subtle and dramatic,” said Kerstin Thompson, who said that the new KTA-designed facilities are intended to reinforce the existing cluster of buildings on the Riversdale property. “Renown aspects of the current setting are maintained and their presence enhanced with an array of new and compelling visitor experiences,” she added.
Boyd – a leading Australian expressionist and landscape painter of the late 20th century – died in 1999. In 1993, he and his wife Yvonne gifted their artworks and 11sq km (4.2sq mi) home to the country as a place to display Boyd’s works, expand education facilities at the site and to open up the venue for visitors.
KTA is also working with Wraight + Associates who are handling landscape architecture and ecology, and Atelier10 who are in charge of environmentally sustainable design. Irwin Consulting will be structural and civil engineers.
Preliminary approval has been granted for the project, but funding still needs to be secured. Seeking funding from the commonwealth and state governments, the Bundanon Trust says the development will have substantial regional economic benefits including AU$51m (US$38.2m, €34m, £29.6m) of spending and the creation of 142 jobs during the construction phase, with an additional 59 permanent created. Once the funding goal is reached, the development will take around 12 months to complete.
