It may have taken a quarter of a decade to get started, but construction of Austrian-born New Zealand artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser's last ever building finally has a start date.

Twenty five years after he was asked to design a new art centre for Whangarei, the project is set to get off the ground on June 11.

A lack of funding for a new art centre has proven difficult and almost halted plans for Friedensreich Hundertwasser's final design to ever come to life.

The 26 and a half-million dollar project has been slow to get started, but members of the Whangarei Art Museum Trust are pleased work will finally begin.

Community backing is being credited with kick starting the build.

Trust Chairman Grant Faber says there's been an array of large and small contributions to the funding of the project such as the government through the provincial growth fund.

"What brought the major funders to the table in the end was the depth and breadth of the community support, which many have told us was unprecedented for an arts based project in New Zealand."

"These plans were done before he died, so it is the last building to be built in the world. it will be iconic."