Construction has commenced on the Foster + Partners-designed Bilbao Fine Arts Museum in Spain. The firm won the commission to remodel and expand the existing museum in 2019, seeing off competition from five other international teams.

The project sees the expansion and remodeling of the existing 20th-century building, with major moves including the creation of a new public atrium space and art galleries in a “floating pavilion.” Outside, a new pathway will connect the original 1945 building, the 1970s extension, and a new visitors center.

The design team’s approach revolved around the original 1945 building, which the team sought to make the “primary protagonist” of the complex through restoring its original entrance and internal sequence of spaces. 70 percent of the existing building will be upgraded, which, when combined with the new extension, will increase the museum’s usable area by 50 percent.

The extension volume will “rest respectfully” across the existing museum, adding an additional 250,000 square feet of gallery space. The top floor of the extension will contain a large column-free exhibition area featuring a panoramic window, while the lower floor will contain educational spaces, workshops, offices, and service areas.

Sustainable credentials touted by the design team include cross ventilation, high natural light levels, high thermal mass, solar energy, and rainwater collection, while the new extension will be constructed using low-carbon steel.

“We are delighted to celebrate the birth of a project which will link the cultural heritage of the past to the museum of the future,” said Norman Foster about the scheme. “From the new gathering space in the Arriaga Atrium, the visitor will proceed to the spacious new galleries and then discover the outdoor terrace that celebrates the museum’s unique location.”

The museum is one of several Foster + Partners projects recently featured in our editorial. Last month, the firm completed the EU’s tallest building in Warsaw, Poland, while also completing the new 425 Park Avenue tower in Manhattan.

In July, the team completed a Kuwait skyscraper with curving concrete fins, while June saw the completion of an ‘innovative’ retrofit scheme in an old Spanish gas plant. At the beginning of 2022, Foster + Partners also completed a pyramid-like museum in Datong, China.