A LONDON-based construction firm has been chosen to undertake the £5.1m refurbishment of Modern Art Oxford in 2017.

The Pembroke Street gallery has already been handed £3.5m from the Government-funded Arts Council England for the work, with the gallery raising the rest.

And it announced this week that RISE, the construction firm which built the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, in Kensington Gardens, London, will take on the project.

RISE director Gareth Stapleton said: “We have a culture of working collaboratively across all industry sectors and are delighted to be working with Modern Art Oxford to help them achieve its future aspirations.”

In plans announced last month, gallery officials said they planned to close the venue in 2017, reopening in 2018.

Director Paul Hobson said during that period, it would hold a number of exhibitions in venues across Oxford.

The revamp will see a lift and staircase installed through the centre of the building to open up higher floors to the public plus a new entrance on St Ebbe’s.

It is hoped the improvements will double the gallery’s visitor numbers to more than 200,000 a year.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

Our top stories