Tate Modern unveils growth plans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5212900.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41927000/jpg/_41927142_tate_203.jpg

The South Bank is to be developed as "London's cultural quarter"


London's Tate Modern art complex has unveiled plans to add a £215m glass building, which will increase the size of its exhibition space by 60%.

The site will combat overcrowding and give more than 4m visitors per year "the experience they seek and demand", said Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota.

An electricity sub-station will move to make way for the 11-floor extension.

Planning permission will be sought this autumn with the Tate hoping to open the building in time for the 2012 Olympics.

The project has been designed by architects Herzog and De Meuron.

They converted Bankside Power Station into Tate Modern and are responsible for the Beijing Olympics stadium.

The 23,000 sq m (75,463 sq ft) of space will include areas for contemporary art, several galleries and two performance zones.

The cost is expected to be comparable to Tate Modern's original construction bill.

Sir Nicholas said he had been working with about 20 other institutions close to the complex to develop the area around the South Bank as "London's cultural quarter".


'Confident'

Referring to the Olympics, he said he wanted "to do something which will take us forward and make this part of London the centre that can be regarded as a counterpart to what is happening in east London in 2012.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41927000/jpg/_41927532_tatewest_203.jpg

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota is "confident" it will open in 2012


"I believe we will see an extraordinary explosion of activity in this area around Tate Modern, around South Bank, around all those extraordinary arts facilities that you see there," he added.

The London Development Agency - overseen by the capital's mayor Ken Livingstone - is to provide £7m towards the financing of the project.

And Sir Nicholas said the Tate was certain that it could find the funds required to complete the extension.

"We've done it before, and we're confident that if we can raise the money in good time, we have capacity also to deliver this building in 2012."

AJPlus

Published 13 October 2006 at 11:37, updated 11:40
Tate Modern extension planning timetable questioned – images

http://www.ajplus.co.uk/Images/Articles/131106_TATE_MAIN.jpg

Herzog and de Meuron’s Tate Modern extension will ‘find it difficult’ to achieve planning by the target of Spring 2007, according to a planning insider.


The news will come as a blow to Tate bosses, who have submitted the designs to Southwark council, and are hoping to have the controversial extension built in time for the Olympics in 2012.

To hit the target, a smooth path through the traditionally challenging planning system is essential.

But it would seem that this is ambitious. The source, who is close to the planning team on the project, said it would be a real challenge to meet the timetable being laid out public.

Conservation campaigners are likely to slow the process, with Catherine Croft, the 20th Century Society’s consultant director, promising to oppose the development.

‘We still think it’s a bad idea to build such an extension,’ she said. ‘And we have written to the council acknowledging our opposition.

‘We have great reservations about the impact it will have on the Bankside Power Station, and we think the building should be listed.’

She added: ‘They have set themselves a very ambitious timescale, and the committee was quite adamant that it didn’t think it was appropriate for that site.’

by Richard Vaughan

AJPlus

Published 13 October 2006 at 11:37, updated 11:40
Tate Modern extension planning timetable questioned – images

http://www.ajplus.co.uk/Images/Articles/131106_TATE_MAIN.jpg

Herzog and de Meuron’s Tate Modern extension will ‘find it difficult’ to achieve planning by the target of Spring 2007, according to a planning insider.


The news will come as a blow to Tate bosses, who have submitted the designs to Southwark council, and are hoping to have the controversial extension built in time for the Olympics in 2012.

To hit the target, a smooth path through the traditionally challenging planning system is essential.

But it would seem that this is ambitious. The source, who is close to the planning team on the project, said it would be a real challenge to meet the timetable being laid out public.

Conservation campaigners are likely to slow the process, with Catherine Croft, the 20th Century Society’s consultant director, promising to oppose the development.

‘We still think it’s a bad idea to build such an extension,’ she said. ‘And we have written to the council acknowledging our opposition.

‘We have great reservations about the impact it will have on the Bankside Power Station, and we think the building should be listed.’

She added: ‘They have set themselves a very ambitious timescale, and the committee was quite adamant that it didn’t think it was appropriate for that site.’

by Richard Vaughan

It is a pity that projects that offer architectural value like this one get opposed and projects that will make London the architectural laughing stock of the world like Beetham barely seem to cause a ripple. These decisions should be taken away from the politicians and NIMBYs and delegated to an independent expert council. Just like the Bank of England sets interest rates without interference of politicians and borrowers.

I really dont know what the 20C society hope to achieve. If it wasn't for the Tate converting Bankside into the Tate modern it would probably have been demolished by now. What if they achieve there goal, then what?? The Tate has been phenomenally successful & has outgrown the original building already with almost double the amount of visitors projected. They want to extend the gallery with a radical extension. Sure it will effect the setting of the original building but the original setting has already been compromised by the bulk of Bankside 123 . Would the 20thC society rather see the Tate not be able to expand & deny millions of people access to more modern art & the performance space this extension will bring just for the sake of it.

The best they can hope for is delaying the project & thereby increasing the end cost of the extension & making it miss its 2012 deadline. Its all very well these organisations objecting to development but nine times of ten they dont have an alternative to what is proposed & just seem to complain for the hell of it.

I would recommend we should make our views known on the southwark planning website as you can comment on any application - If the 20c society can complain we are perfectly within our right to comment on the positive aspects of the proposal.

I would be all in favour of a radical glass extension to the Tate Modern but this is just such an ugly design....

Not too keen on this one, I'd rather they sorted out the oil tanks etc in the original building first and moved on from there. Have to say that i'm with monkey on not being sure if I like this design. It'd probably look great in real life I suppose and H&DM has not disappointed me before.

Im pretty sure the oil tanks are also part of this new extension scheme.

I would have thought, now that this has gone in for planning there would be some sort of exhibtion etc in the Tate showing everyone whats planned.

There's a whole section on the proposed development including plans & renderings. This should be up before the planning committee before the summer.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/newmuseum.shtm

Tate Modern extension is approved
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6501873.stm


The building was designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron.
Plans for a £215m extension to London's Tate Modern gallery have been given the go-ahead by Southwark Council.

"We are delighted," said Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota, who hopes to open the 11-floor glass building in time for the 2012 Olympics in London.

"This decision would not have been possible without the involvement and support of local residents," he added.

An electricity sub-station will have to be moved to make way for the building on London's South Bank.

The site is intended to provide more space for the Tate's collection and will help combat overcrowding at the gallery, which received 4.9m visitors last year.

The 23,000 square metres of space will include areas for contemporary art, several galleries and two performance zones.

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota is "confident" it will open in 2012
"Facilities for young people will be central to the new development, and learning and visitor engagement will be at its heart," said a Tate spokeswoman.

The project was designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron.

Last month, they received the Royal Institute of British Architects' gold medal for work including their redevelopment of the Tate Modern.

The cost is expected to be comparable to Tate Modern's original construction bill.

The London Development Agency - overseen by the capital's mayor Ken Livingstone - is providing £7m towards the project.

yep good news, the the numbers of visitors and the number of works that can not be given permenant display means that this is a vital addition to an exciting landmark and destination building

Our Office buildings and residential buildigns should look like this! Sigh

not keen on this. The building itself looks very interesting as a set-piece, but the location just doesn't work. If placed alongside the Tate on the riverbank, it would be a fantastic addition, giving both structures a side-by-side equality when viewed from the river or north bank. placing one behind the other diminishes the integrity of both, the unique soar and symmetary of the tower is compromised and the unique ziggurat shape is obfuscated. The new block looks like a little kid behind a table standing on his tip-toes shouting "pay attention to me!!"

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/images/tate_cgi.jpg

While i appreciate that the Tate needs more exhibition space, i'd rather they spend less on a new building, and more on boosting the very mediocre permanent collection.

The symmetry is already broken by the Bankside 1 building and will be further by Rogers towers to the west.

I think it's a great juxtaposition, and it's amazing to think that the conversion of the Bankside Power station into Tate Modern and this extension share the same architect. It's almost an artistic statement in itself - like the art inside has exploded out of the building. Fantastic.

Not too sure how they will deal with a glass building facing south, but that's for the engineers to work out.

Good news indeed. What chance do they have of raising the cash? £215m is a lot and may mean they have to buy a few more donations boxes. You have to spend money to make money! Sorry, £208m, they have £7m already from the LDA.

I find it hilarious when people oppose great new buildings that add to an area like this. So what if it pokes its head above the power station...when it´s built people will like it and it wont matter.

The 20th century society are idiots.

For me, a really exciting aspect of this extension is the reopening of an old oil tank below ground level which used to be part of the power station's operation. Just like the Turbine Hall has now become the centrepiece of the Tate Modern, so this subterranean tank will be the extension's doff of the hat to the building's original use. Gotta Love Herzog & De Meuron!

I want to see the South Bank and Southwark grow and grow! I asked this in another thread, but does anyone know if Zaha Hadid's Architecture Foundation is still going ahead?

yeah it is though the design has like all her other UK work been watered down :( - if you want to see Zaha at her best go to Germany

Rubbish design in the wrong location.... :ohno:

not keen on this. The building itself looks very interesting as a set-piece, but the location just doesn't work. If placed alongside the Tate on the riverbank, it would be a fantastic addition, giving both structures a side-by-side equality when viewed from the river or north bank. placing one behind the other diminishes the integrity of both, the unique soar and symmetary of the tower is compromised and the unique ziggurat shape is obfuscated. The new block looks like a little kid behind a table standing on his tip-toes shouting "pay attention to me!!"

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/images/tate_cgi.jpg

While i appreciate that the Tate needs more exhibition space, i'd rather they spend less on a new building, and more on boosting the very mediocre permanent collection.

Don't really like this. The Tate Modern looks great as it is without a huge glass tumour hanging off it's back. If they build an extension, it shouldn't be any higher than the current building (less the chimney), although I understand that Bankside 1 has already broken the symmetry, so my argument is sadly pretty pointless. How Bankside 1 was allowed to be higher than the TM is another example of poor planning in London.

Also, the TM is a landmark building and ideally it should be left as it is. We wouldn't dream of adding a hulking glass extension to St Pauls or the Palace of Westminster, so why should we do this to the Tate Modern or one of our other relatively modern landmarks? Just because the building is less than 100 years old doesn't mean that it should be treated with any less respect than a building of say 200 years old.

some more pics
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/mar/28/1?lightbox=1

Don't really like this. The Tate Modern looks great as it is without a huge glass tumour hanging off it's back. If they build an extension, it shouldn't be any higher than the current building (less the chimney), although I understand that Bankside 1 has already broken the symmetry, so my argument is sadly pretty pointless. How Bankside 1 was allowed to be higher than the TM is another example of poor planning in London.

Also, the TM is a landmark building and ideally it should be left as it is. We wouldn't dream of adding a hulking glass extension to St Pauls or the Palace of Westminster, so why should we do this to the Tate Modern or one of our other relatively modern landmarks? Just because the building is less than 100 years old doesn't mean that it should be treated with any less respect than a building of say 200 years old.

Sorry, i have to disagree with all of your points.

Firstly - i think even if the backgound were full of other buildings, the horizontal horizon of the tate would not be defeated - the building is enormous, and is in the foreground - more buildings would actually enhance the view by emphasising these traits - the chimney protects the building even further. Thus, i cannot accept a height restriction that prohibits buildings from behind rising higher the the enormous one in the foreground - far from it, i feel the higher we rise as we step back from the river the better.

Secondly - historically we havent been too concerned with extending (at times butchering) our great monumental buildings. To start with - the Palace of Westminster wraps itself around Westminster Hall. Another one - Westminster Abbey - massive extensions at both the front and the back - i dont believe those white towers were there to begin with. More - Hampton Court, a statement of changing styles. Buckingham Palace - perhaps not the most welcome addition, but i actually like it. Tower of London... and there's more.

Thus - i am very excited about this extension - ESPECIALLY because it is located at the back, and will provide the proper Front Entrance that the Tate Modern needs. The river isnt the Front.

Don't really like this. The Tate Modern looks great as it is without a huge glass tumour hanging off it's back. If they build an extension, it shouldn't be any higher than the current building (less the chimney), although I understand that Bankside 1 has already broken the symmetry, so my argument is sadly pretty pointless. How Bankside 1 was allowed to be higher than the TM is another example of poor planning in London.

Also, the TM is a landmark building and ideally it should be left as it is. We wouldn't dream of adding a hulking glass extension to St Pauls or the Palace of Westminster, so why should we do this to the Tate Modern or one of our other relatively modern landmarks? Just because the building is less than 100 years old doesn't mean that it should be treated with any less respect than a building of say 200 years old.

Just realised that I've been a little stupid here. Of course, the Tate Modern does have modern additions, which were made by Herzog, but they are very subtle and were necessary in transforming the building from a power-station into an art gallery. Thought I'd better get in here before one of you guys posted a :nuts: smiley!

Sorry, i have to disagree with all of your points.

Firstly - i think even if the backgound were full of other buildings, the horizontal horizon of the tate would not be defeated - the building is enormous, and is in the foreground - more buildings would actually enhance the view by emphasising these traits - the chimney protects the building even further. Thus, i cannot accept a height restriction that prohibits buildings from behind rising higher the the enormous one in the foreground - far from it, i feel the higher we rise as we step back from the river the better.

Secondly - historically we havent been too concerned with extending (at times butchering) our great monumental buildings. To start with - the Palace of Westminster wraps itself around Westminster Hall. Another one - Westminster Abbey - massive extensions at both the front and the back - i dont believe those white towers were there to begin with. More - Hampton Court, a statement of changing styles. Buckingham Palace - perhaps not the most welcome addition, but i actually like it. Tower of London... and there's more.

Thus - i am very excited about this extension - ESPECIALLY because it is located at the back, and will provide the proper Front Entrance that the Tate Modern needs. The river isnt the Front.

Well, I guess it's a matter of opinion. I just think that the TM looks more powerful and iconic with it's monolithic chimney soaring into the clear blue sky, with nothing around it. If the chimney were surrounded by tall buildings, it wouldn't stand out and the building would get lost in a sea of glass and steel.

Also, I see what you're saying about buildings being extended over the centuries, but the fact is, we wouldn't do it now. As I've said before, we wouldn't build a glass and steel extension to St Pauls or the Palace of Westminster, it would just look crap! I suppose that modern extensions can work well sometimes, but I think that buildings like the TM (and indeed Unilever House) would look better as stand-alone buildings, the same for the Natural History Museum, which has that crap 60s extension attached. Ultimately though, I suppose that many museums and art galleries need to expand in order to improve their collections and their quality of service to their visitors, so I can see why they do it.

I was flicking through books on contemporary architecture around the world and then went through a book on contemporary London and although it was varied there was more than a hint of conservative dullness in too many of the designs. The Tate Modern extension will be something to excite and desire.

I feel that as the extension is by the architects who renovated the main building we should give their design a bit more respect. I was annoyed by the blue fin building poking up over the Turbine hall roof as this seemed careless although now it will be hidden by this extension (perhaps they knew all along) but i find the vertical emphasis pleasing and the fact it appears from behind the building it has less impact on the overall originals form than I feared at the beginning. Most people visit from the riverside entrance so perhaps the towering form of the extension will useful to advertise the new public space around the back?

I find it hard to give a judegement on this project. It is certainly daring. I think the cladding will be extremely important. On some pictures from the north bank the extension appears dark grey, on others it it almost dissolves in the sky. If the cladding gives it indeed this light silvery aspect it may work, if it is dark grey instead it will appear closer and detract. It also risks to turn a very classy building into a cheap prosititute if they overdo it with lighting schemes etc. But if worked out delicately, it may work.

In some respects it is a project very typical for London: juxtaposition and dissymmetry. Sometimes it can be nice, if overdone it can be horrible.

New render:

http://skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/890TateExtensionand240BlackfriarsAppoved_pic1.jpg

Argh im in two minds on this one! I agree this could either go one of two ways.. Amazing and soo good you couldnt imagine that tate without it! or... Ruin the whole look of the building! :uh:

I liked it before i saw that render. Shame on Herzog and de Meuron, i do better ones for my interim crits at uni, and i know they can afford do outsource to decent graphics firms.

Banker gives Tate record £5 million for 2012 extension
By Louise Jury, Evening Standard 22.05.07
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/arts/article-23397594-details/Banker+gives+Tate+record+%C2%A35+million+for+2012+extension/article.do

http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2007/05/17a_22_tate_243x308.jpg
Vision: An impression of the Tate Modern extension in the form of a stepped pyramid

Banker and philanthropist John Studzinski today gave Tate Modern £5 million towards its proposed extension, the biggest gift in the gallery's history.

The donation will enable the Tate to press ahead with plans for the £215 million development, which it hopes to have open in time for the Olympics in 2012.

Mr Studzinski said he was delighted with the vision for transforming the landmark building in Bankside.

"Tate Modern has been an extraordinary success under Nicholas Serota's vision and leadership and has a great track record," he said. "I believe in backing winners."

The London Development Agency has already donated £7 million to kick-start the annexe, designed to be in the form of a spiralling, stepped pyramid, or ziggurat.

Announcing the gift, which is £2million more than the previous largest donation to the original Tate Modern, Sir Nicholas said it provided leverage to raise money from other potential donors.

"John has been an important figure for the Tate in helping us raise money from other people. It gives him credibility when he's asking other people and it sets the bar at quite a high level," he said.

The Tate also announced today it is to carry out a major consultation on the future of the gallery.

It is to discuss collaborations with other institutions on the South Bank, such as the British Film Institute, with which it has presented film programmes, and the Design Museum.

The first stage of the consultation takes place next Tuesday when 150 young people have been invited to sleep in the Turbine Hall in tents. They will be asked to consider options for the development of the building.

Sir Nicholas said: "I'm genuinely intrigued by what people will say. If I had to forecast, one of the things that will come out is that people will want to participate much more than simply being passive learners. The question is how we encourage that participation."

Ideas already in motion include a mobile Tate to travel across the country and plans for projects involving Premier League football.

It's good that this will be ready in time for the Olympics, if it goes ahead :) and that goes with any major development in London... get it ready by 2012!

it looks good in that one fantasy view with soft focus porno lighting, but awful from any ground-level vantage points or daytime renders.

Firstly - i think even if the backgound were full of other buildings, the horizontal horizon of the tate would not be defeated - the building is enormous, and is in the foreground - more buildings would actually enhance the view by emphasising these traits - the chimney protects the building even further. Thus, i cannot accept a height restriction that prohibits buildings from behind rising higher the the enormous one in the foreground - far from it, i feel the higher we rise as we step back from the river the better.

i agree that the tate modern would still look good if the background was filled with taller buildings. however that is not what this structure provides so that argument is not really valid. the extension is a single structure in the relative foreground that competes with the tate tower rather than a complete and varied background you suggest. an essential difference. if there were plenty of other tallish buildings being built in this area then i would support the extension but there's not, and as we know the Tate vigorously oppose any talls built near their museum so there's little chance of this happening. seems they can understand how other buildings could impinge upon the tate but apparently their own buildings are immune from this criticism.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/images/tate_cgi.jpg

looks like a tumour on the Tate's shoulder.

Secondly - historically we havent been too concerned with extending (at times butchering) our great monumental buildings. To start with - the Palace of Westminster wraps itself around Westminster Hall. Another one - Westminster Abbey - massive extensions at both the front and the back - i dont believe those white towers were there to begin with. More - Hampton Court, a statement of changing styles. Buckingham Palace - perhaps not the most welcome addition, but i actually like it. Tower of London... and there's more.

the difference with most of those additions is that to an untrained eye you wouldn't know they were different. hampton court is perhaps the exception, but there isn't the same strong design motif that exists at Tate Modern, where the power of the structure is due to its singular and exceptional integrity.

saying all that, if the addition is a good one, then competing with the tate tower is not neccessarily a bad thing. my beef is with the location of this addition, directly behind the existing building. this is nonsensical, the best view of the tate is from the north bank or millenium bridge, placing the addition directely behind this view damages it hugely. if this building was placed alongside the tate, it would look pretty good, repeating the proportions of the existing building and strengthening the tower motif rather than destroying it by crowding and mutual obfuscation, where one cannot gage the full body of the new building but only it's dismembered head floating uncannily by.

Its worth considering but this view is already compromised by Bankside 1 which can clearly been seen hulking over the Western half of the Tate

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/images/tate_cgi.jpg

if there were plenty of other tallish buildings being built in this area then i would support the extension but there's not, and as we know the Tate vigorously oppose any talls built near their museum so there's little chance of this happening.

There are three Richard Rogers residential towers planned for the neighbouring site.

It's certainly something!! :P

I want to be honest about something....I am sick and tired of hearing about sightlines and views in a major world city..

That being said, there are some views which should be protected.

I could not care less about this new extension rising behind the Tate from the river, and nor would most people in reality. What I care more about is seeing the South Bank transformed, and the density increased. In an ideal world this would also be achieved with smaller , more 'human scale' developments, as well as increased statues/sculptures....markets and performers. If only I were Mayor.

Does anyone know when the amended scheme will be released?

wow its been so long! Over a year!

yea i was thinking that....its seemed like yesturday though that's a bit scary...its gone very quiet.

Tate swaps glass for brick extension
17 July, 2008

By Rory Olcayto

Herzog & de Meuron’s extension for Tate Modern has been substantially revised and will require new planning permission, Southwark Council revealed this week.

As predicted by BD in April, the pyramid-like precast concrete structure’s cast-glass cladding panels have been swapped for perforated red engineering brick following the fast-tracking of the original project through planning and problems with the glazing.

The scheme, set to be unveiled on Friday by Tate director Nicholas Serota and Jacques Herzog, is understood to have been reduced from 70m to 64m high with its protruding “boxes” removed and a rooftop balcony added, echoing the top of Tate Modern’s chimney.

Chair of Southwark’s planning committee James Gurling said: “They couldn’t engineer the glazed panels to make it work with the building’s design. A full planning application is now expected as the facade has changed considerably, but we expect it to still begin on site in early 2009.”

The extension will now feature a “perforate screen” — set off the main structure — with gaps in the brickwork through which the concrete is visible. Elsewhere the facade is punctured with horizontal “floor-high” window slots, with other large rectangular holes further exposing the concrete.

Herzog & de Meuron is said to have favoured a concrete facade but a planning consultant hired by the Tate advised that the British public would find this “too ugly”.

However, its green credentials have improved, with waste heat from a nearby substation providing most of the building’s requirements.

Herzog & de Meuron is said to have favoured a concrete facade but a planning consultant hired by the Tate advised that the British public would find this “too ugly”.

Well if it was done to a high standard I think that would have looked good.

However, its green credentials have improved, with waste heat from a nearby substation providing most of the building’s requirements.

Brilliant, that has completely made up for the loss of a potentially wonderful and striking addition to the Tate :no:

Brilliant, that has completely made up for the loss of a potentially wonderful and striking addition to the Tate :no:

^^ you havnt seen what its going to look like yet. It could be just as good or even better that the previous design.

Its gonna look really great_ they are amazing architects....very excited> It reminds me of the south banks Hayward but that could be the sketches so far

Herzog & de Meuron’s Tate Modern plans revealed

17:06 | 18.07.08

By Deirdre Hipwell

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/6835/tatemodernextensionwz8.jpg

Architect Herzog & de Meuron today revealed the revised plans for the new development of Tate Modern.

The plans follow a revised brief and consultation with artists and the Tate Modern’s curators.

The main design element of the updated plans will see the oil tanks of the former power station retained as ‘raw spaces for art and from which the new building will rise’.

In the previous scheme the oil tanks were occupied by an auditorium and other facilities.

It said the oil tanks will lead directly into the turbine hall and the interconnecting spaces will become the foundation of the new Tate Modern.

The architect said: ‘This closer relationship between the buildings is expressed in the façade, which uses brick in a radical new way by creating a perforated brick screen through which was the building will glow at night.

'The building is more compact than in the previous scheme which built up of stacked boxes and the configuration is more flexible to allow for future changes in the programme.’

The new design with include more varied spaces for Tate's growing collections and better facilities for the gallery's learning programmes. The new building will rise 65m above ground in 11 levels and will add an additional 231,400 sq ft to Tate Modern's existing 376,370 sq ft of space.

There will also be a new north/south route through the building linking Southwark to the City of London and this route will be open 12 hours a day.

Two new public spaces will be created – a southern square modelled as a city piazza with the potential for special commissions and performance, and new gardens to the west designed for families and children.

Herzog & de Meuron said the new design will help the Tate Modern deal with visitor numbers that now exceed more than 5m a year. The project is due to be completed in 2012 at estimated cost of £215m at 2012 prices.

To date Tate has received £50m from Government, £7m from the London Development Agency and £13m from the private sector towards the overall costs.

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3118682&c=1

^^^ That's more like it- subtle yet sophisticated

Also on Reuters.com :

Tate Modern uses cash injection for glass extension


LONDON (Reuters Life!) - London's Tate Modern museum said it plans to use a British government grant of 50 million pounds ($101.3 million) to help it fund a futuristic expansion of its existing galleries.

Tate director Nicholas Serota said the building was expected to continue the regeneration of a London neighborhood that has seen a raft of attractions, luxury apartments, restaurants, museums and historic refurbishments appear on the south bank of the River Thames in the last two decades.

"We look forward to bringing to Southwark a landmark building for the 21st century," Serota said in a statement this week.

The 10-storey glass block building was designed by the Swiss architects who originally converted the post World War Two London power station into a modern art museum that has become one of London's biggest tourist attractions.

Herzog and de Meuron, who were chosen to design the national stadium for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and won the prestigious Pritzker architecture prize in 2001, have designed a building that will increase the Tate's capacity by 60 percent.

The new building, which aims to ease visitor congestion, should be ready in time for the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and is expected to cost about 165 million pounds.

Photography and video galleries will stretch out across the corkscrewing glass block building, allowing space for new art and for pieces in storage to find a place in the public eye.

British Culture Secretary James Purnell said the Tate will be the first in a chain of London museums to be given cash grants over the next three years.

"The 50 million pound grant will allow the Tate to build on its outstanding success of drawing 5 million visitors a year, as well as creating space for bigger art displays in new media," Department of Culture spokesman Toby Sargeant said.