Bilbao Fine Arts Museum: BBK Museoa

Foster + Partners and LM Uriarte Arkitektura have been selected as the architectural team to undertake the expansion of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Established in 1908, the museum moved to its current location in 1945. The modern, new wing was added in 1970, and the last substantial renovations and improvements took place in 2001. It is the second largest and most visited museum in the Basque Country, after the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum and one of the richest Spanish museums outside Madrid. The estimated €29.5 million expansion dubbed ‘BBK Museoa’ aims to provide the museum with additional exhibition spaces, improved visitor circulation and expanded conservation and research facilities. Foster + Partners’ proposals include a pavilion-like rooftop extension which will provide 2,000 square meters of flexible gallery spaces above it. Once the work is completed, the museum space will increase by 50%. A further challenge to the architects is to better connect the facility to a nearby park and the Guggenheim tourist route through improvements to public realm infrastructure. In November 2022, construction commenced on the museum, with a ground-breaking ceremony. It is estimated that work will take 22 months. Our completion date is currently an estimate. (Updated 28 November 2022)