Dundee's V&A passes major construction milestone as upper floor complete

DUNDEE'S £80m museum project has reached a major milestone in its construction.

The V&A Museum is set to open in 2018. Picture: Contributed.

Completion of the upper floor reveals for the first time an extensive public area which will house galleries, learning spaces and a restaurant.

At ground floor V&A Dundee is two separate buildings, which connect on the second floor. At the heart of this impressive space sits the Michelin Design Gallery.

The Michelin Design Gallery will showcase the achievements of V&A Dundee’s learning and innovation programme, aimed at families, schools, community groups, adults, children, businesses and creative professionals.

The gallery will take on the Michelin name for a term of 25 years following the generous support of the Michelin Corporate Foundation.

Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “It is thrilling to see the completion of our galleries floor, revealing for the first time the space which will host the V&A’s touring exhibitions and showcase the outcomes of our learning programmes.

“The Michelin Design Gallery is central to this, and will be a very inspiring space for community participants of all ages to see what they design showcased within an international museum.”

A Michelin mentoring programme will also be put in place through the partnership with V&A Dundee.

This will offer Michelin staff the opportunity to be directly involved with the museum and its learning programmes, as well as providing a platform to share their own knowledge and skills.

Michelin is a major employer in Dundee, with over 800 staff, and the factory also gives staff time to volunteer at the local Braeview Academy secondary school.

John Reid, factory manager at Michelin Dundee, said: “The backing from the Michelin Corporate Foundation will allow us to develop really strong, long-term links between the factory and V&A Dundee.

“We are very keen to be at the heart of a resurgent Dundee, and the £54 million investment we are undertaking at the factory here will help that process.

“The V&A Dundee project is a massive contribution to regeneration in the city and we’re very proud to be involved.”

Councillor David Bowes, city council development management convener, said: “This is yet another exciting milestone in the construction of the V&A Museum of Design Dundee building.

“I am pleased that representatives from Michelin can see for themselves the progress that is being made on site.

“All the partners are all delighted with the attention that this project is focusing on our city.

“The aspirational V&A Dundee project is designed to provide Dundee and Scotland with a world-class museum, which will help to provide jobs and wider economic benefits.”

Later this year V&A Dundee’s curving concrete walls will reach their full height. The walls are cast in bespoke moulds, which are then removed to allow 2,250 cast stone panels to be hung on the walls.

These horizontal panels will create the appearance of a cliff face, realising architect Kengo Kuma’s vision inspired by the coastline of north eastern Scotland. Each panel weighs up to 3000kg each and spans up to 4 metres.

Construction of V&A Dundee is on schedule for opening to the public in 2018.