“It’s extraordinary, it really is,” NGV director Tony Ellwood said on Tuesday afternoon. He was talking, of course, about the astonishing $100 million donation, announced today, that trucking and logistics billionaires Lindsay and Paula Fox have made to the future NGV Contemporary gallery, which will now be named in the family’s honour.

The Fox: NGV Contemporary, as it will be known, will be Australia’s largest contemporary art and design gallery, with more than 13,000 square metres of exhibition space.

The complex is due to be completed in 2028, and will be the cornerstone of a $1.7 billion state government commitment to expand the Southbank arts precinct.

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Ellwood said he isn’t aware of another contribution to a gallery by a living donor, here or abroad, that compares.

“There are major, major venues in the United States that still haven’t had a nine-figure donation from a living donor in their history,” he said. “This is really huge in world terms, not just local terms – internationally this is an extraordinary act of faith and generosity, and for Australia it’s a whole new benchmark.”

In recognition of the historic financial endorsement, Ellwood said it makes perfect sense to “offer to name the building in their honour, in perpetuity”. He referenced overseas institutions that have made similar commitments. Certainly galleries in the United States and Europe have named wings after generous donors, but naming rights for an entire gallery complex is rare.

The Foxes relationship with the NGV stretches back nearly 20 years, and Paula Fox has sat on the NGV Foundation fundraising board for about a decade – the same period of time that Ellwood has been director. He said he and the Foxes have developed a “lovely friendship” over the years, with Paula especially “being privy to our desire to do something significant for contemporary art and design”.

Paula recognised early on that the NGV’s ambitious contemporary art project would “legitimately have a big impact on young lives”, Ellwood said. When the time came, she was quick to ask how she could help – from there, he said, the path to the notable contribution “flowed quite naturally”.

“As long-time supporters of the gallery, we believe in the vital work of the NGV in making the arts accessible to the wider community and we know NGV Contemporary will be a place for all Australians to enjoy the best we have to offer, ” Paula said in a statement. “We believe in the impact of the incredible work of the gallery, which brings joy to our community through art and design. We hope that our donation will inspire others in supporting this program to make this an icon for the future.”

The design of the new gallery – an arresting multistorey monolith – was revealed last month, with its cavernous, spherical entrance hall that will stretch more than 40 metres upwards through all the gallery’s levels.

The entranceway will also serve as a gallery, displaying large-scale works, while a spiral pathway will allow visitors to traverse the building’s many spaces – all highly flexible and featuring state-of-the-art display systems. A public rooftop terrace and sculpture garden will offer views of the skyline, parklands and even the Yarra Ranges.

The design phase of the project will continue to the end of 2022. The final fundraising target is yet to be set, Ellwood says, but with six years until the building is due to open – and with contributions like that of the Foxes, along with $20 million donated by the Ian Potter Foundation before the design was even revealed – he feels “confident that we can do something truly amazing”.

ngv.vic.gov.au/the-fox-ngv-contemporary