THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART
Kansas City, MO, United States. 2007
Description +
PROGRAM: museum addition and renovation
CLIENT: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
SIZE: 165,000 sq ft
STATUS: Complete
This competition winning addition is composed of five interconnected structures as opposed to a single massive expansion. Traversing from the existing building across its sculpture park, the five built “lenses” form new spaces and angles of vision. From the movement through the landscape and threaded between the light openings, exhilarating new experiences of the existing Museum will be formed. Circulation and exhibition merge as one can look from one level to another, from inside to outside. The “meandering” path in the sculpture garden above has its sinuous compliment in open flow through the continuous level of new galleries. Glass lenses bring different qualities of light to the galleries while the sculpture garden’s pathways wind through them.
Ecological Innovation +
All materials zero or low-VOC emittance
Terrazzo floor specified with recycled glass aggregate
Gallery floors comprised of FSC-certified wood
Local, precast and cast-in-place concrete constitutes more than 30% overall building material
Existing central plant refitted with new energy efficient equipment
Lens constructed of a double skin glass assembly with Okalux translucent insulation to provide 75% natural light to all spaces while minimizing heat gain in the summer
Lens pressurized air cavities conditioned with building’s exhaust air
Credits +
architect
- Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl (design architect)
Chris McVoy (design architect, partner in charge)
Martin Cox, Richard Tobias (project architect)
Masao Akiyoshi, Gabriela Barman-Kraemer, Matthias Blass, Molly Blieden, Elissavet Chryssochoides, Robert Edmonds, Simone Giostra, Annette Goderbauer, Mimi Hoang, Makram El-Kadi, Edward Lalonde, Li Hu, Justin Korhammer, Linda Lee, Fabian Llonch, Stephen O'Dell, Irene Vogt, Urs Vogt, Christian Wassmann (project team)
local architect
- BNIM Architects
structural engineer
- Guy Nordenson and Associates
associate structural engineer
- Structural Engineering Associates
mechanical engineer
- Ove Arup & Partners
- W.L. Cassell & Associates
glass consultant
- R.A. Heintges & Associates
lighting consultant
- Renfro Design Group
landscape architect
- Gould Evans Goodman Associates
artist
-
Walter De Maria
-
News +
- 2021 12/15 Ginkgo Trees
- 2017 01/11 16 U.S. Museums with outstanding Architecture
- 2016 06/09 Iwan Baan Photographs Steven Holl’s Nelson-Atkins Museum for its Ninth Birthday
- 2011 10/01 The Very Best Works at the Turn of the Century
- 2008 05/01 Honor Awards Architecture
- 2011 02/07 World’s Most Beautiful Buildings
- 2007 06/01 New Building for the Nelson Atkins should Attract an Extra 100,000 visitors per year
- 2007 01/13 The Building Blocks of America’s Best Architect
- 2016 06/09 Steven Holl Architects Celebrates 9 Year Anniversary of the Nelson Atkins Museum Opening with New Photos by Iwan Baan
- 2007 07/01 Steven Holl Lights up the Skies of Kansas City
- 2007 03/19 The Art That Lies Beneath
- 2007 04/30 Lenses on the Lawn
- 2014 07/09 The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Named a Finalist for Inaugural MCHAP Prize
- 2008 01/04 Steven Holl Architects’ Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Wins 2008 AIA Institute Honor Award
Awards +
- 2014 2014 MCHAP FINALIST
- 2008 AIA INSTITUTE HONOR AWARD
- 2008 AIA NEW YORK CHAPTER ARCHITECTURE HONOR AWARD
- 2008 CAPSTONE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AWARD
- 2007 AIA CENTRAL STATES ARCHITECTURE AWARD
- 2007 LEAF NEW BUILT AWARD
- 2004 The International Parking Institute, Award of Excellence for Best Design of a Parking Facility with Fewer than 800 Spaces
- 2000 Progressive Architecture Award
- 1999 AIA NEW YORK CHAPTER PROJECT AWARD
- 2009 WAN CIVIC SECTOR BUILDING OF THE YEAR, SHORTLIST
