The Vancouver Art Gallery has announced the selection of two architecture firms to lead the design of its new facility in a second attempt to build a permanent home at Cambie and Georgia streets. Following an extensive search process, the gallery chose Formline Architecture & Urbanism and KPMB Architects as the design team for this major cultural infrastructure project.

The announcement comes after a months-long selection process that saw 14 leading Canadian architectural firms submit proposals for the prestigious commission. Formline Architecture & Urbanism, a British Columbia-based, Indigenous-led firm founded by Alfred Waugh, will partner with Toronto's KPMB Architects, headed by Bruce Kuwabara, who brings extensive experience with award-winning cultural projects.

"Our team is deeply honored to receive the commission to design the new Vancouver Art Gallery, as it brings my personal journey full circle in a profound way," Waugh said in response to the selection. His firm's Indigenous leadership represents a significant cultural perspective for the project, while KPMB Architects' proven track record in cultural architecture adds established expertise to the collaboration.

This new architectural partnership was hired nearly a year after the gallery officially abandoned its previous ambitious plan for a new facility. The scrapped project was a $600 million, nine-story wood-and-glass building designed by renowned Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. That proposal was halted after 15 years of extensive planning and approximately $64 million spent on pre-construction work and design development.

Interim co-CEOs Sirish Rao and Eva Respini emphasized that community consultation will be a central component of this latest attempt at creating a new gallery at Larwill Park. They described the project as "the largest cultural infrastructure project in Vancouver in over 30 years," highlighting its significance for the city's cultural landscape.

The gallery leadership has committed to developing a new conceptual design by 2026, with the facility planned to showcase the rich cultural diversity of British Columbia. This timeline suggests a more measured approach compared to the previous lengthy development process that ultimately failed to reach completion. The new design team will need to balance architectural innovation with practical considerations and community input to ensure the project's success where the previous attempt fell short.