The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building will be highlighted on an upcoming episode of the popular series How Did They Build That? airing Sunday, September 14. The episode will be available for streaming on the Smithsonian Channel and Paramount+.
Interviews with Steven and the wider project team will be featured on the segment, where the concept and construction of building’s “cold jacket” façade and “luminous canopy” roof are elucidated.
The façade, the building’s ventilated curtain wall made up of over 1,000 translucent glass half-tubes, continues SHA’s 40-year plus research into translucent material phenomena. The low transmission of the translucent glass bounces solar gain off the facade. The heat gain, which comes through the tubes into the cavity, is vented out the top at the roof, creating a “cold jacket” for the building.
The Texas sky opens 180°overhead above a luminous canopy covering the museum. Concave curves, imagined from cloud circles, push down on the roof geometry, allowing natural light to slip in with precise measure and quality, perfect for top-lit galleries. Rather than mechanical and repetitive, the light is organic and flowing echoing the movement of the galleries.