Chipperfield’s £15m design granted planning permission; work due to start end of 2005

David Chipperfield’s £15m Hepworth Gallery has been granted planning permission from the City of Wakefield.

As part of the regeneration of the Wakefield waterfront conservation area, the Hepworth Gallery, which will replace the existing Wakefield Art Gallery, will bring together a series of redundant mills and warehouses with the Chantry Chapel on the Old Wakefield Bridge.

The museum will reflect the distinctive features of the surrounding waterfront buildings, forming a conglomerate of trapezoidal blocks under an undulating roofscape. Rooms inside will be top-lit and offer views on the River Calder.

Works are planned to start at the end of the year. The gallery will open in 2008.