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
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
David Adjaye’s housing project in Sugar Hill nears completion
A new development in New York's historic Sugar Hill district nears completion, designed to be an icon for the neighborhood's rich history.
| Jun 9, 2014
Green Building Initiative launches Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors program
The new program focuses exclusively on the sustainable design and construction of interior spaces in nonresidential buildings and can be pursued by both building owners and individual lessees of commercial spaces.
| Jun 9, 2014
Eli Broad museum files $19.8 million lawsuit over delays
The museum, meant to hold Eli and Edythe Borad's collection of contemporary art, is suing the German company Seele for what the museum describes as delays in the creation of building blocks for its façade.
| Jun 4, 2014
Want to design a Guggenheim? Foundation launches open competition for proposed Helsinki museum
This is the first time the Guggenheim Foundation has sought a design through an open competition. Anonymous submissions for stage one of the competition are due September 10, 2014.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
| May 23, 2014
Big design, small package: AIA Chicago names 2014 Small Project Awards winners
Winning projects include an events center for Mies van der Rohe's landmark Farnsworth House and a new boathouse along the Chicago river.
| May 22, 2014
IKEA to convert original store into company museum
Due to open next year, the museum is expected to attract 200,000 people annually to rural Älmhult, Sweden, home of the first ever IKEA store.
| May 21, 2014
Gehry unveils plan for renovation, expansion of Philadelphia Museum of Art [slideshow]
Gehry's final design reorganizes and expands the building, adding more than 169,000 sf of space, much of it below the iconic structure.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
