In four years, the city will be able to reconnect with its history, heritage and culture after the new building at the Byculla-based Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum’s north wing is constructed.

A New York-based architectural company has been selected to design and construct the Rs 200 crore new building. To finalise and select the architects for the public-private project, an international competition was arranged which had entries from over 275 companies. The project was awarded to the Steven Holl Architects from New York on Saturday.

The 11-member jury, including BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte, who is also co-chairman and museum trustee, finalised the company over a three-day period.

Malcolm Reading Consultants organised the competition on behalf of the museum, combining international standards with the Council of Architecture (India) guidelines. The new addition to the museum is expected to be approximately 120,000 sq ft, with new galleries for film and culture, fashion and textile and other facilities including an interpretation centre, a library, an archive, conservation facilities, a new museum shop and café.  “We had begun to think about the new building last year and on Saturday, finalised the company which would design and construct it,” said Kunte