黑洞社区

The V&A鈥檚 new museum in Dundee has been awarded 拢5m by Chancellor George Osborne in the budget despite the 拢80m scheme鈥檚 capital cost already being fully-funded.

Osborne unveiled plans to award 拢5m in funding to the controversial museum project designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Kuma only weeks after it was given 拢20m by the Scottish Government, which met the remaining capital project costs.

A spokesperson for the V&A said 鈥渁 proportion鈥� of the 拢5m will go towards the capital costs of the museum even though the full cost of the museum had now been raised with the remainder to be spent on a 鈥減re-opening community engagement programme鈥�.

Director of audiences and Media at V&A museum of design Dundee Jane Ferguson said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been presenting our project to the UK government and this award has been made as a long-term conversation of the benefits of the project.

鈥淲e presented the overall project, the V&A Dundee project, and to develop a programme of engagement into the community in the pre-opening period and then beyond.鈥�

Ferguson added: 鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 been decided how much of the new fund will be allocated to the capital construction costs at present, however the new funding will be split between the capital construction fundraising and also used for other programmes.鈥�

Kuma鈥檚 design for the V&A museum has been mired in controversy ever since the costs to construct the project ballooned from an original 拢27m to well over 拢80m due to a number of design issues. The museum had reached it鈥檚 capital fundraising target after a 拢20m donation from the Scottish Government on February as part of an overall 拢63.8m financial package for the city鈥檚 waterfront.

The fundraising campaign has seen 拢12.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, 拢4.5m from Creative Scotland, 拢6.5m from Dundee City Council, 拢12.61m of Growth Accelerator Funding, 拢4m from Waterfront.

Director of Sutherland Hussey Harris architects Charlie Hussie, who bid on the original design competition, said the decision came as 鈥渘o surprise鈥�.

Hussey said: 鈥淭he whole procurement process in Scotland needs a complete overhaul, it鈥檚 leading down the road to disastrous architecture and is undermining the policy which had aspirations for hiqh-quality architecture.

鈥淭he Scottish government is seen to promote good architecture such as the lighthouse- but the fundamental problem is that procurement is completely wrong. Projects are being bundled together which is leading to design-led practices being ostracised from the process. The V&A project is symptomatic of that process.

鈥淚t鈥檚 completely in the power of the Scottish government to change these things. We are supposedly under a socially-democratic government but let鈥檚 see what they deliver.鈥�

The museum is expected to open in 2018.