Extra £4.5m funding for Dundee V&A museum

Officials signed off the extra funding as part of a rescue deal for the long-delayed project. Picture: Contributed

Officials signed off the extra funding as part of a rescue deal for the long-delayed scheme, which bosses admitted had gone almost twice over budget earlier this month.

The Scottish Government and Dundee City Council have already agreed to find an extra £10 million and £6.5 million respectively for the project, which now has an £81 million price tag.

Project leaders say work on Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s new waterfront building is now due to get underway in March with the structure due to be complete by the end of 2017 and the attraction open to the public the following summer.

Carole Souter, chief executive of the HLF, which had previously awarded the project £9.4 million, said: “V&A Dundee will provide Scotland with a world-class museum of design while making a transformational contribution to the cultural, social and economic regeneration of the city.

“We can now look forward to seeing this iconic building start to take shape and realising its full potential.”

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Dundee’s council leader Ken Guild said: “We are aiming to construct a world-class building with significant economic benefits for Dundee and for Scotland. This is great news for the city.”

Philip Long, director of V&A Dundee, said: “This generous support from the Heritage Lottery Fund represents a significant boost to the new museum.

“Together with important recent decisions by Scottish Government and Dundee City Council, it opens the door to an impending site start.

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“We can now look forward to getting on and building this outstanding new museum, the first in the UK to be dedicated to design outside London.

“The renewed support of our funding and founding partners underlines the momentum and determination driving forward V&A Dundee, which will do so much to change the fortunes of this city. We very much appreciate these commitments and would like to thank to all involved.”