University helping to deliver `transformative’ V&A Dundee

Published On Fri 16 Jan 2015 by Roddy Isles

Significant economic benefits of an £80.11 million project to construct the V&A Museum of Design Dundee will be discussed by Dundee City Council’s policy and resources committee on Monday January 26.

Work could start in March this year, with the main building completed by the end of 2017 and opened to the public before June 2018. A report outlining a fixed price tender and a proposed funding arrangement details how the construction of the V&A Museum of Design Dundee will create hundreds of jobs and inject millions of pounds into the economy.

The museum will be located at the heart of Dundee’s wider £1 billion Waterfront regeneration project, where an estimated 4,800 FTE jobs will be created as a result of the development of the Central Waterfront area.

The University of Dundee is a founding partner of Design Dundee, the company formed to deliver the V&A Dundee.

Professor Pete Downes, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, said, “As a founding partner of the V&A Museum of Design Dundee, the University has always been – and remains – firmly committed to helping deliver this transformative project for the city. V&A Dundee will signal a step change in perceptions of Dundee, presenting tremendous opportunities for the development of both the city and the University.

“It is a vital cog in Dundee’s status as a UNESCO City of Design. It will be a magnet to attract the brightest and best students and staff to Dundee, and be a host of design-led business innovation, harnessing the economic potential of some of our brightest creative minds.

“Innovative design and how it can shape the future is a key theme of the University’s own transformation agenda. V&A Dundee will play a significant role in helping us deliver on the ambitions of the University, and of Dundee itself.”

Building works for the museum will generate 519 net job years in the construction sector, including opportunities for apprentices.  Significant economic benefits include 51 FTE direct jobs and 361 FTE indirect jobs, with this rising to 628 FTE jobs in the initial years after the museum is opened.

An estimated £11.6 million economic boost a year would be made by the V&A Museum of Design Dundee, which is expected to generate in excess of 270,000 visitor engagements a year from year three onwards.

The city’s association with the V&A has already had a positive impact in attracting investment like the Malmaison Hotel and also the proposed Sleeperz Hotel in the new rail station project, while new hotel developments will also create an additional 500 rooms

Investor interest in Dundee is at an all time high, with real prospects of new development taking place on the back of the start of museum construction work.

Roddy Isles
Head of Press
TEL: 01382 384910
MOBILE: 07800 581902
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk