Designed by Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, in collaboration with Stantec, the expansion of Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is opened in early 2012. The new wing is home to a 296-seat performance hall, 2,000-square-foot special exhibition gallery, expanded gardens and greenhouses, education studios and classrooms, accommodations for Artists-in-Residence, conservation labs, a new visitor entrance, and an expanded museum shop and café.
An open and transparent design takes advantage of natural day lighting via a glass first floor that will fully engage visitors in the museum experience. In addition to viewing the art collections, visitors can stroll through greenhouses or observe a workshop taking place in one of the studios. The building is aiming for LEED certification, with sustainable design strategies that include a geothermal well system, daylight harvesting, and the utilization of local materials. RPBW sent members of the design team to Stantec’s Boston studio for more effective collaboration for development of the detailing which occurred using building Information modeling software.
View Original