Closed in 2023 for massive renovations, the reopening date for the Tate Liverpool has been pushed back two years until 2027.
Reopening plans for a revamped Tate Liverpool gallery have been delayed by two years. One of the largest UK modern art galleries outside of London closed in 2023 for a planned two-year renovation project.
This week, Tate Liverpool announced that the planned reopening will be postponed to 2027. The gallery has put forward plans costing £30 million (€36 million) but have yet to raise the full amount.
So far, the gallery has raised £17.85 million of the £29.7 million total. £10 million of that has come directly from the UK government’s Levelling Up fund with another £6.6 million from the government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The Wolfson Foundation charity has also donated £1.25 million.
Speaking to the BBC, Tate Liverpool director Helen Legg said some of the issue raising funds was due to a harder climate post-pandemic: “It has become more difficult. Now we are close to achieving our goals. It’s taken us a little bit more time”.
Tate Liverpool was opened in 1988 in a renovated waterfront warehouse on the Albert Dock. Set up to house the Tate Collection, it was the largest gallery of modern and contemporary art in the UK outside London.
“Tate Liverpool is 36 years old. That might not seem very old, but since we opened our doors in 1988, the experiences our visitors want to have and the kind of work artists want to make, have both changed significantly,” the gallery explains.
Part of the renovations is to create a new Art Hall, an open-plan space that people can use to “sit, relax, sketch, take photos, do a bit of work, read, listen to a podcast or enjoy a long overdue catch up” all while surrounded by world-class artwork from the Tate Collection.
6a architects have taken on the project, who have previously worked on the South London Gallery and MK Gallery in Milton Keynes. As part of the project, they’re working with the gallery’s goals to improve the building’s sustainability.
Fossil fuel use will be replaced with renewables and as the huge air conditioning units are removed to show off the bare brick, natural light and natural ventilation will be introduced to the building to ensure better energy performance.
While the building is under construction, Tate Liverpool has moved its location to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) North. Located on Mann Island under 500m from the gallery location, the smaller space will continue to house exhibitions throughout the renovation period.
When the renovations are done, the gallery will reflect its home city more than ever. “One of the things that we really wanted to do was to be able to feel more rooted in Liverpool,” Legg said. “I think there were times when you would walk around the galleries and you could have been in a museum anywhere in the world. So what we really want to do is open the windows that were bricked up in the 1990s.”
