It was announced today that a new £47m centre for art and design is to be built in Dundee.

The “V&A at Dundee” will be built just south of Craig Harbour in the city’s redeveloped water front.

Dundee City Council has launched an international architecture competition to design the new centre, which will be built out onto the River Tay.

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop said she hoped the building would become a “thriving centre” for the creative industries in Scotland.

‘World class’

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has been involved in the project, which is also backed by Abertay and Dundee universities, Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise.

The Dundee V&A will have a research centre and exhibition venue, as well as becoming the home for specialist collections in Scottish contemporary design.

Mike Galloway, from Dundee City Council, said the city wanted to find a team that could design a “world class building” for the centre, which is expected to to open in 2014.

“A two-stage architectural competition is about to be launched and we expect to have interest in this project from prominent architects and designers from around the world,” he said.

Sir Mark Jones, director of the V&A, said: “The creation of the V&A at Dundee fulfils the V&A’s aim of sharing its collections, exhibitions, skills and resources, reaching new audiences and giving access to more people nationally and internationally.”

- Article taken from the BBC News website