Dundee’s V&A museum nears £45m fundraising target

THE fundraising campaign for the iconic outpost of the V&A museum on Dundee’s waterfront is already more than half way towards its £45 million target, it was revealed today. • Fundraising initiative for V&A Museum in Dundee more than halfway to reaching £45m target • Scottish Government has already pledged £15m towards project • Delays have pushed back opening of museum to 2015 The flagship development, due for completion at the end of 2015, has received a significant £4 million boost in the first influx of private donations towards the scheme. The Scottish Government has already pledged a total of £15 million in capital funding towards the project, and the Heritage Lottery Fund has given V&A at Dundee a first-phase pass on a bid of up to £9.2 million. Sandy Richardson, the development director of the V&A at Dundee, said: “The private donations announced today mean the project is well on its way to achieving the £45 million fundraising target. “We are absolutely delighted to be able to make this announcement and are extremely grateful to those individuals and organisations who are supporting the project. It is a wonderful show of confidence in V&A at Dundee.” He declared: “The £4 million towards the £15 million target of funding from private sources is a huge show of confidence and the perfect start to our fundraising campaign. It is just where we would want to be at this point. “We have already received many substantial gifts and we are discussions with a lot of prospective donors who are really engaged, committed and interested in the project so we would be expecting to make further announcements in due course. “Other applications are in with other major public funding bodies and these are on track as well and work will continue in developing discussions with prospective donors.” The organisations which have donated to the fund include the W S Philips Charitable Trust, Leng Charitable Trust, Misses Barrie Charitable Trust, Binks Trust, and the Dunard Fund. The boost to the campaign was announced as a new public exhibition of the revised plans for the landmark building, designed by award-winning Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, went on public display at Abertay University’s Bernard King Library. The new plans have been drawn up following the decision, taken by the development consortium last October, to site most of the museum on the banks of the Tay, instead of on a specially constructed promontory in the river, as originally planned. The change was made to ensure the development can be built within budget. The original scheme has already been given panning approval by city councillors but the revised scheme will have to be re-submitted for approval in the Spring, following the public consultation exercise. The museum had originally been scheduled for completion in 2014 but construction is now expected to be completed by the end of 2015. Kengo Kuma’s revised plans show the V&A closer to the RSS Discovery and other city attractions and placed in the heart of Dundee’s redeveloped central waterfront. The plans also detail the way in which the iconic building, created of two separate structures arching up to meet each other, will be built within two pools of water, reinforcing the connection between the building and the River Tay. The “prow” of the latticed-shaped structure will still to be built on on a smaller promontory on the river. Philip Long, the director of the V&A at Dundee, said, “We remain absolutely committed to developing an outstanding building to good time and on budget. Our proposal for the location of the building gives Dundee greater certainty of this, while retaining the integrity of Kengo Kuma’s design for a new institution of national importance. We are looking forward to sharing with the public these latest plans, and are delighted to report such good progress is being made on fundraising.” The V&A at Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd, a partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dundee City Council, the universities of Dundee and Abertay, and Scottish Enterprise.