Stanton Williams’ Musée d’Art given 2016 opening date

The Stanton Williams-designed Musée d’Art in Nantes will open two years earlier than originally scheduled.

French contractor Quille construction, a subsidiary of Bouygues, has set a shorter construction timetable for the €48.8m (£40.6m) project, with the museum opening in one phase in 2016, instead of a phased opening by 2018.

The Musée d’Art de Nantes is one of the six largest fine arts museums outside Paris, alongside Lyon, Grenoble, Montpellier, Rouen and Lille.

The existing historical museum building will be comprehensively renovated, whilst the new 4200m² extension will accommodate the additional exhibition spaces for contemporary art.

The project will also include the creation of new educational facilities, an auditorium, a library, a storage space for graphic arts collection and an external sculpture court.