The distinctive Adam Art Gallery building, the first purpose-built university art gallery in Aotearoa, was designed by Sir Ian Athfield, principal and founder of Athfield Architects.

Situated between the Old Kirk, Hunter and Student Union Buildings on Victoria University of Wellington’s Kelburn campus, the Gallery occupies and extends from the site of the former Culliford Staircase, connecting the upper and lower parts of the hillside campus. Viewed from below, the Gallery’s zinc exterior provides a dramatic contrast to the red-brick Gothic-revival architecture of the Hunter Building.

The original staircase, designed by Ian Reynolds in the 1960s, with its double-height concrete pillars, remains a central feature of the Gallery, amid the three-levels of intersecting exhibition space, totalling 350 square metres.

With long, narrow spaces, triple height walls, multiple platforms for viewing other levels of the building and abundant natural light, the building has proved a challenging provocation for artistic and curatorial experimentation, as well as a dynamic space for regular events, performances and public programming.

For their work on the building, Athfield Architects were awarded the 1999 NZIA Resene Branch Architecture Award: Community & Cultural, the 1999 NZIA Resene Colour Architecture Award: Community & Cultural, and the 2000 NZIA Resene Central Regional Architecture Award: Community & Cultural.