Plans to extend the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, UK have been approved.

The directors of the gallery chose architect Zaha Hadid to design and create the new gallery in 2010, and the extension is now scheduled to open in 2012.

As part of the project, the Grade II-listed The Magazine building of the gallery will be renovated and extended to house collections.

The project, to be known as the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, was made possible by The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation, which gave the largest single gift the Serpentine Gallery it has received in its 40 year history.

Scheduled to open ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the new art gallery will provide more than 880sq m (9,500sq ft) of galleries and social space, about the same as the Serpentine Gallery itself.

The Serpentine Sackler Gallery will have free admission and aims to present the "stars of tomorrow" in art, architecture, dance, design, fashion, film, literature, music, performance and technology.

The gallery aims to use the space as a "test site for new ideas" and forge new partnerships between the arts, creative industries, sciences and education.