The Lyon Housemuseum in Melbourne, Australia, is close to finishing construction on a major expansion that will see the opening of a number of new public galleries for the institution.

Opening in Q1 2019, the new galleries will offer more space for exhibits of contemporary art and architecture, including international and local exhibitions, as well as events.

Designed by Corbett Lyon, the architect behind the main Housemuseum, the new galleries will include large, flexible exhibition spaces specifically designed for large-scale artworks and installations.

The central gallery will feature a 5.5-metre high ceiling and will sit in the middle of four outer peripheral galleries, as well as a public forecourt and enclosed sculpture court. The new area will also include a small shop and café.

"We're extremely excited by plans for the new public galleries and this potential to foster experimentation, ideas and conversations across disciplines between artists, architects, designers and members of the public to enrich and add to our cultural life," said Lyon.

The new building’s facades will be clad entirely in bluestone and feature 12,000 projecting bluestone elements sourced and cut from an ancient basalt quarry in Port Fairy, Victoria.

The new Housemuseum Galleries are being developed and operated by the Lyon Foundation – a non-profit entity established by the museum's founding patrons, Corbett Lyon and Yueji Lyon, in 2012.