Pritzker Prize winning architect Peter Zumthor and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) have unveiled new plans for the US museum’s proposed US$650m (€477m, £380m) transformation.

Following controversy over the original designs, Zumthor has altered his original plans to avoid the La Brea Tar Pits – an important site for palaeontology research and a major tourist hotspot in the LA area.

Before changes to the plans, the proposed exhibition hall for the site would have cast a shadow over and bordered on the pits, placing them at risk. Now Zumthor has rearranged the master plan to include a sweeping bridge stretching from the museum to what is currently a car park and avoiding the nine active tar pits nearby.

The new plans adhere to roughly the same 400,000 sq ft (121,920 sq m) floor plan and despite having a new bridge incorporated, it is hoped that the project will remain on a similar budget although there are concerns it will now remain within the previous US$650m parameter.

The building will be elevated on glass pillars, allowing visual openness and with the new bridge proposal a ‘drive through’ art tunnel will be thrown into the mix, once again promoting ease of access.

Although the project has yet to be approved by Los Angeles County, by avoiding the still active tar pits, critics have responded well to LACMA’s new plans. If the project gains approval, the plan is to tear down structures on the east end of the LACMA campus for a single museum building.