Storage space at the Art Gallery of South Australia has hit maximum capacity and there is a “grave lack” of suitable warehousing for the $600 million collection.

News of the squeeze comes as the gallery received a record $8.4 million in gifts to fund purchases or donations of work this financial year – a significant increase from $5.8 million in 2012-13 – the gallery’s annual report shows.

Gallery director Nick Mitzevich said his personal preference would be to build a new custom facility that meets the structural, functional and conditional needs of the collection.

“It’s much more efficient to factor in all the requirements from the ground up,” he said.

“A retro fit-out of an existing building is sometimes more expensive. My preference for a long-term solution is a new build but that doesn’t preclude an interim solution until we get there.”

He said non site-specific plans had been drawn for a new facility.

He added that the gallery was open to locations outside of the CBD and would consider following n the footsteps of the Louvre in Paris that is expanding it’s storage and display space into annexes.

“The Louvre is moving 220,000 works two hours north of Paris. It flows on with the strategy of the whole facility.”

In the meantime, Mitzevich said additional storage space had been found within the existing facility by reorganising works but the gallery could “only do that for so long”.

The gallery’s annual report for 2013-14 states only 3 per cent of the collection can be on display at North Terrace at any time.

“Of equal significance is the grave lack of suitable collection storage with the current facility at maximum capacity,” the report states.

Mitzevich said the problem indicated the strength of the collection, but the lack of display space was a real concern for management and the board.

“The collection and the ambitions of this state, its audiences and supporters have simply outgrown this building,” he said.

“We would really like to show more of the collection and we look for every opportunity to do so.”

The location of the storage facility is not disclosed for security reasons.

Mitzevich said the gallery had been developing a “master plan” for its storage needs over the past four years and was working with the State Government to implement it.

The gallery had submitted a proposal to use the current Royal Adelaide Hospital site as an active storage space – a place where the works could be held and viewed by the public. No further work has been done on the future use of that site.

“Much of the strategic work has been focused on an accessible storage facility through the development of an Art Discovery Centre concept. The Art Discovery Centre proposes a blurring of the boundaries between storage, education and display to ensure that the collection can be used for research, education and recreational purposes,” the annual report said.

There has been steady and significant growth in the number of visitors to the gallery in recent years. In 2013-14, 674,393 people visited the gallery – an increase of 27 per cent over 3 years.

Mitzevich said there had also been a swell in volunteer interest with 200 expressions of interest for 20 new trainee positions and a total 284 volunteers who donate time to the gallery.