The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, Canada, has reopened following an extensive six-year $276m (£183.8m,€219m) refurbishment.
The new look of the gallery, called Transformation AGO, was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry and included the renovation of 190,000sq ft (17,651sq m) of gallery space and the addition of a further 97,000sq ft (9,011sq m) of exhibition space. A 600ft-long glass frontage increasing was also installed to increase the views of the city and Grange Park, as well as new walkways designed to improve accessibility to the art displays.
As well as increasing the building's size by 20 per cent, the art viewing space was increased by 47 per cent to 129,000sq ft, the Canadian galleries were expanded by 164 per cent, the European galleries by 76 per cent and the photography galleries by 242 per cent.
The gallery also acquired the David Milne Study Centre, the Vivian and David Campbell Centre for Contemporary Art as well as new Thomson Collections which include European art from the medieval, the Renaissance and the Baroque eras through to 17th and 19th century portraiture.
There is also a two-level gift and book shop, a restaurant, a café, the Jackman Hall lecture theatre and the 700sq ft Young Gallery, a free space for new contemporary arts projects, and a 450-capacity events space called Baillie Court.
Contractor EllisDon Corporation carried out the work on Transformation AGO in collaboration with Gehry International Architects, landscaping designers ENVision, local architects Adamson Associates and heritage specialists E.R.A Architects.
The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario were major partners in the project, contributing $24m (£16m, €19m) and $39m (£26m, €30.9m) respectively, the rest of the funding came from the private and corporate sectors and community donations.
A spokesperson for the project, said: "Transformation AGO integrates ideas about the many ways that art and people can connect from powerful experiences. The transformed AGO has set high standards for accessibility to all facets of the artistic experience by providing exceptional access to art displays, programming, conservation, storage and research."
The gallery now displays over 4,300 works, 40 per cent of which are new collections, in the new sections of AGO and has over 73,000 artworks in its permanent collection.
