In Norfolk, Va., the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Perry Glass Studio, an educational facility for glassmaking, will open a new addition this summer. That will be followed by a renovation of the existing building scheduled for completion this winter.
The design by Work Program Architects clads the studio expansion in terracotta panels and brick veneer, referencing glass art’s firing process. A new transparent museum front welcomes visitors from all sides. It also creates a connection between the museum and the city’s downtown arts neighborhood, the NEON District. Visitors will be guided to NEON by a path decorated with a series of wayfinding glass “breadcrumbs.”
As soon as they enter, visitors will see the furnaces of the theater-style performance hot shop, which allows artists to work with glass in its molten state. A focal point, the hot shop will display the art of glassblowing. The glassmaking studios (including flat, flame, cold, and mold shops), wood and metal shops, and classrooms will offer artists space to hone their craft, while also allowing visitors to explore glass art.
A roof terrace offers views of the Chrysler Museum, the Hague, and the Elizabeth River. The project also includes an event space, retail area, and catering kitchen.
In light of the area’s recurring flooding events, the new addition has been raised four feet above the existing glass studio to keep it above the floodplain.
The design’s other coastal resilience strategies include native, salt-tolerant plantings; cisterns to collect rainwater for summer irrigation; onsite water storage; new trees and protection of existing trees to absorb water; and landscaped areas that act as a green sponge.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Chrysler Museum of Art
Design architect and architect of record: Work Program Architects
Structural engineer: Speight Marshall Francis
Landscape architects: Stromberg Garrigan & Associates, WPL
Civil engineer: Timmons Group
PME engineer: Altieri Sebor Wieber
Theater/AV/acoustics: NV5
Geotechnical: GET Solutions, Terracon
Envelope: REI Engineers
Contractor: Hourigan
Related Stories
Museums | Jul 22, 2019
Berlin’s Museum Island receives its first new building in almost 100 years
David Chipperfield Architects designed the building.
Museums | Jun 28, 2019
OMA unveils design for New Museum's second gallery building
The building is being designed by Office for Metropolitan Architecture/Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson.
Museums | Jun 18, 2019
Frank Lloyd Wright Trust announces new Visitor and Education Center
Architect John Ronan will design the building.
Museums | May 15, 2019
The new Statue of Liberty Museum in New York seeks to educate and inspire
This LEED-Gold building features three exhibit spaces that give visitors more access to and engagement with the statue’s history.
Museums | May 10, 2019
Lincoln Park Zoo announces renovation plans and design for the Kovler Lion House
Construction will begin in fall 2019.
Museums | Feb 27, 2019
Seoul’s Robot Science Museum will be built by robots
Robots will be in charge of jobs such as molding, welding, and polishing metal plates for the museum’s façade, and 3D printing concrete.
Museums | Feb 22, 2019
The National Museum of Qatar takes its design from the desert rose
Jean Nouvel designed the museum.
Museums | Jan 16, 2019
Disused British airfield to become an automotive museum
Foster + Partners is designing the facility.
Museums | Sep 10, 2018
Helsinki’s underground art museum opens to the public
JKMM designed the space.
