Art Gallery of NSW forecourt to be transformed with pools removal of parking

The forecourt of the Art Gallery of NSW is to receive a makeover, transforming it into a new public space with polished stone reflection pools.

The redeveloped pedestrian plaza at the foot of the Walter Vernon-designed, neo-classical portico will be created from an additional 852 square metres of public space reclaimed by the removal of nose-to-curb parking.

The revamped forecourt of the Art Gallery of NSW.

The Art Gallery has released a first look at the design for the new forecourt by internationally renowned landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson and Seattle firm GGN ahead of the start of construction works next week.

“All the great art museums in the world, they generally have a gathering space out the front,” Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand said.

“And our front steps have been a gathering place for Sydneysiders and visitors for multiple generations but it is not a very big space. The really big change is removing the parking which adds on 850 square metres of plaza, all for people and not for cars.”

Gustafson and GGN will also be responsible for an art garden that will lie between the gallery’s original and new contemporary art galleries of Sydney Modern.

Gustafson is a partner in the London-based firm overseeing the 100-hectare Eiffel Tower Park underway  in Paris which will form Paris’s largest outdoor garden on completion before the 2024 Olympics.

Mr Brand said the two polished-stone reflecting water features designated for the forecourt had been designed to reflect the facade on approach.

Fed by recycled tank water, the shallow pools were made of highly polished granite that would be reflective even if empty in times of drought.

Water was considered calming, and cooling, Mr Brand said, and the pools a “practical and beautiful solution” given the gallery did not want to overshadow the two major Gilbert Bayes equestrian bronzes or turn the forecourt into a sculpture park.

“For me, it’s one of the most beautiful spots in the afternoon when the sun sets in the west and the honey sandstone is glowing and now it’s going to be even better,” he said.

Stone heritage walls in front of the existing building where once horse and buggies dropped off visitors will also be raised and reused to provide communal seating.

A drop zone for buses, taxis, and rideshare vehicles and limited accessible parking will remain. For ease of access, steps from the Domain to Art Gallery Rd will be turned into a gentle ramp.

The broad footpath between the existing 19th-century building and Sydney Modern will be landscaped with plantings endemic to the region.

Hoardings will go up in a few days. Work on the forecourt will extend into next year, with Sydney Modern to be completed at the end of 2022.

Architect Andrew Andersons regards the Vernon facade of the Art Gallery of NSW as Australia’s finest 19th-century public building.

The forecourt design with Kathryn Gustafson’s elegant water features would give respite from the heat while making the whole precinct even more attractive.

The doors of the Art Gallery of NSW have been closed by public health orders.

“It’s terribly tragic and heartbreaking to see all three great exhibitions and all shut and we are waiting to see how this outbreak goes, and when we can reopen,” Mr Brand said.

Mr Brand did not rule out a short extension of Hilma Klint, The Secret Paintings which is due to close September 19 after opening for two weeks.

Secret Paintings needs to make way for the gallery’s next blockbuster, Matisse: Life & Spirit Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris which is to open November 20.

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Linda Morris is an arts writer at The Sydney Morning Herald

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