First major construction milestone for V&A Dundee

Dundee City Council administration leader Councillor Ken Guild, council city development director Mike Galloway and Philip Long, director, V&A Museum of Design Dundee will be taken on a guided tour of the site by Doug Keillor, regional director of BAM Construction Scotland on Tuesday (June 23).

Councillor Guild said: ‘This is significant progress on a nationally-important project to provide a unique and stunning building. I am delighted to see that the construction of V&A Dundee is proceeding apace and people will really take notice when tower cranes move onto the site later this summer. This major investment in the V&A Dundee will bring real benefits for Dundee and I am looking forward to seeing Kengo Kuma’s breathtaking vision become reality beside the River Tay. Dundee’s profile is already benefiting from our association with the V&A. This can already be seen with the award of UNESCO City of Design status which reflects our growing international reputation. The aspirational V&A Dundee project is designed to provide the city and Scotland with a world-class museum which will help to provide jobs and wider economic benefits.’

Philip Long, director, V&A Museum of Design Dundee, said: ‘We are thrilled at the progress and pace of work in the first three months of construction. The project really comes to life when you see the form of the building marked out on site. It will be hugely exciting for all of us to watch its striking physical shape emerge over the coming months and years up to opening. V&A Dundee will be a world-class design museum for Scotland, a place that will inspire and delight hundreds of thousands of visitors from Dundee and far beyond. It will host exhibitions, events and programmes that will celebrate design achievements and innovation in Scotland and the world - a place we can all be proud of.’

Doug Keillor, regional director of BAM Construction in Scotland, said: ‘BAM is on target with our construction programme to deliver a world-class building that will be a source of pride for the people of Dundee and Scotland. We have formed an excellent working partnership with V&A Dundee and Dundee City Council which is always the foundation of a successful project.’

The V&A Dundee building will protrude out into the River Tay. To enable the land reclamation work to progress, BAM Construction has constructed a cofferdam in the river. The cofferdam is effectively a temporary watertight structure built around the protruding part of the V&A Dundee. This allows the area enclosed by the cofferdam to have the water pumped out, creating a dry working environment for the major land reclamation work to proceed.

The cofferdam was completed at the end of May, ahead of the June 1 date where the summer embargo of works on the river begins to avoid any impact on the harbour seal breeding season.

Work continues to progress on programme with the infill works to the cofferdam and the foundations to the building now underway.

The first tower crane will be erected on site in July with the second and third following in August.

That month, the skyline will begin to change as the internal concrete core walls of the buildings are constructed. Work on the external concrete walls starts in September.

Nearly 30 job opportunities for young people have already been created at the site. These include new starts by people who were previously unemployed, redundant or who have completed registered training programmes, as well as graduate and apprenticeship opportunities.

Photos of the completed dam can be seen on the V&A Dundee Facebook page.