Art Gallery of NSW narrows architecture firms down to five finalists for Sydney Modern

Sean Goodsell Architects, who designed the MPavilion in Melbourne, are one of two Australian firms still in contention. Photo: Earl Carter

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has narrowed the list of architecture firms vying for its ambitious $450 million Sydney Modern project from 12 to five, and there are no Sydney firms in the running.

Two Australian firms are still in contention for the prestigious project - Kerry Hill Architects, based in Singapore and Perth, and the Melbourne-based Sean Goodsell Architects - but Sydney firm Candalepas Associates failed to make the cut.

The two Australian firms join Tokyo and Paris-based Kengo Kuma and Associates, Mumbai and Boston-based RMA Architects and Tokyo's SANAA, which designed Manhattan's New Museum of Contemporary Art Building, in stage two of the competition.

Confident: Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand says the Sydney Modern should be ready by 2021. Photo: Brett Hemmings

Stage one of the selection process was anonymous: the jury - which includes AGNSW director Michael Brand, Sydney architect Glenn Murcutt, Hetti Perkins and others - assessed high-level concepts submitted by each firm, without knowing from whom the concepts came.

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"Only after we picked the five concepts were we able to reveal whose concepts they were," Dr Brand said.

He added that while no Sydney firms made the finalists lists, Sydney architects are represented in the jury and were involved in drawing up guidelines for the competition. There is also potential for local firms to work with the ultimate winner as the process moves forward.

LMW Corporate Headquarters, in Caoimbatore, India, designed by RMA Architects. Photo: Rajesh Vora

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Art Gallery of NSW narrows architecture firms down to five finalists for Sydney Modern