The plan for a V&A museum in Dundee originated at the
University of Dundee in 2007 when Georgina Follett (then Dean of
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design) suggested it to the University Principal, Sir
Alan Langlands. Subsequently, Joan Concannon, the university's director of external relations, made a 20-minute pitch to Sir
Mark Jones, then director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in which the case for Dundee was made, including its potential as an anchor for the urban regeneration of the waterfront. A design competition took place in 2010 to decide what the museum would look like. The Japanese architect
Kengo Kuma won the competition; his design was inspired by the eastern cliff edges of Scotland. The museum was constructed where the
Olympia Leisure Centre stood previously.
BAM Construction carried out the construction work beginning in April 2014. The original completion date was 2017 but it was delayed to 2018. During construction a
cofferdam was installed to allow the outer wing to expand onto the
River Tay and 780 tonnes of pre-cast grey concrete slabs were added to the outside of the building. It cost £80.1 million to complete. The V&A Dundee opened to the public on 15 September 2018 with international and national press previews taking place beforehand from 13–14 September 2018. The opening was celebrated with a 3D Festival which featured acts such as
Primal Scream, Be Charlotte and
Lewis Capaldi, along with a light show and a firework display. The opening highlights were broadcast on
BBC Two Scotland in a programme hosted by
Edith Bowman. The museum attracted 27,201 visitors during its first week and 100,000 in its first three weeks. The museum was officially opened by
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, in a private official opening, held on 28 January 2019. On 30 March 2019, the museum achieved its target of 500,000 visitors within a year, six months earlier than expected. The V&A Dundee was due to launch its fourth exhibition, focusing on the fashion of
Mary Quant, in early April 2020, but the museum temporarily closed on 18 March 2020 because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of 2020, the V&A Dundee relabelled several of the museum's historical exhibits to better reflect their ties to Scottish involvement in
colonialism and
slavery. In September 2023, as part of the museum's fifth anniversary, it was revealed that the V&A Dundee had been visited by 1.7 million people, and that, to date, generated £304 million for the Scottish economy, and £109 million for Dundee's economy. A new permanent exhibition, Stories from the Building, which looks at the background and architecture of the museum, opened on 15 September 2023. In January 2024, it was announced that the V&A Dundee would only host one major exhibition a year, in a cost-cutting exercise. == Features ==