Formline + KPMB have been chosen to design the new purpose-built home for the Vancouver Art Gallery — the city’s largest cultural infrastructure project in more than 30 years.

 

The Vancouver Art Gallery announced their selection earlier today following a rigorous adjudication, review, and interview process. The architectural team of Formline + KPMB was chosen from proposals from 14 leading architecture firms. The selection was approved by the gallery’s Board of Trustees on the recommendation of its Architectural Selection Committee.

 

Located at Larwill Park at 181 West Georgia Street, the future gallery will establish a new cultural landmark for the city and province. It will offer greatly expanded floor space and new opportunities for displaying the gallery’s permanent collections and hosting special exhibitions. Crucially, its design will reflect the diversity of the region, honour Indigenous traditions, and act as a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive landmark for all of Vancouver and British Columbia.

 

The design of the new Vancouver Art Gallery will be led by Formline president, founder, and principal Alfred Waugh and KPMB founding partner Bruce Kuwabara. A conceptual design will be delivered by the team in 2026.

 

“The selection of Formline + KPMB to envision the new Gallery is a bold statement supporting Canadian innovation and excellence,” says Jon Stovell, Chair of the Gallery Association Board. “KPMB brings a proven track record for creating elegant, world-class museums that centre art and community, while B.C.–based Formline leads with an Indigenous design vision that is both contemporary and deeply rooted in tradition.”

 

Formline Architecture + Urbanism integrates Indigenous ways of knowing and Western knowledge to creative culturally sensitive and environmentally responsible architecture. The firm’s portfolio of built work includes Indigenous House at University of Toronto,  the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, the Governor General’s award-winning Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia, and First People’s House at the University of Victoria.

 

KPMB Architects brings more than 35 years’ experience designing cultural institutions and art galleries, including the Art Gallery of Hamilton , the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the Gardiner Museum in Toronto, the Remai Modern in Saskatoon, the Ottawa Art Gallery, Contemporary Calgary, and the Harrison McCain Pavilion at Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton.

 

“Our team is deeply honoured to receive the commission to design the new Vancouver Art Gallery, as it brings my personal journey full circle in a profound way,” says Alfred Waugh, founder and principal of Formline Architecture + Urbanism. “My mother left this world too early, and during my formative years, she asked me to do something meaningful for our people—a request that has sparked my journey into architecture. Now we have been privileged with this opportunity to celebrate Vancouver’s vibrant culture while honouring the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land for generations and paying tribute to the beautiful mountains and lush rainforests that define our region.”

 

“It’s an honour to collaborate with Alfred Waugh and Formline to help shape the future of an institution that holds such profound cultural and civic significance for Vancouver and British Columbia — places that express a diversity of world views all at once,” says Kuwabara. “Following their release from an internment camp in British Columbia, my family relocated to Hamilton where I was born. Returning to the province to design the Vancouver Art Gallery is deeply meaningful for me.”

 

Read more about the selection of Formline + KPMB.

 

(Pictured left to right: Alfred Waugh and Bruce Kuwabara)