Ground broke this month on an expansion to a museum that holds more than 7,000 pieces of art. The architecture firm Foster + Partners designed a new West Wing for the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The renovations include 12,000 sf of new gallery space, a 210-seat auditorium, two new classrooms, a student gallery, and a family gallery, which will have a 150-foot-long colonnade with large windows that look out onto the surrounding garden.
A new 3,600-sf, 43-foot-tall “great hall” will serve as a gathering spot at the center of the building.
Outside, 20,000 sf of lawns and plantings will replace an existing parking lot, and part of that area will be a 9,000-sf event lawn that will host parties. The designers call the concept “a museum in a garden.”
“The new extension of the museum represents an exciting opportunity to place the reinvigorated Norton at the heart of Florida’s cultural life and to establish its international presence, allowing more people to enjoy the museum’s very special collection,” Norman Foster, Founder and Chairman, Foster + Partners, said in a statement.
“Reinforcing its natural setting with a ‘museum in a garden,’ our aim has been to restore a sense of clarity to the existing building by reasserting the logic of the original plan; creating new event and visitor spaces that will transform the museum into the social heart of the community; as well as increasing the gallery and exhibition spaces, to engage with a wider audience, both local and national.”
The museum, which contains paintings from Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas along with other contemporary art and photography, was built in 1941. A 45,000-sf expansion in 2003 made the museum the largest in the state.
The "great hall" will serve as a lounge that can host events.
Added green space will make the Norton a “a museum in a garden.”
Related Stories
Museums | Sep 21, 2016
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
Specialty Buildings Column Series, Part 2 of 6 [Click Here to Part 1]
Museums | Sep 19, 2016
Museums refine their mission in the digital age
Preserving history is still their core function, but museums are using fresh approaches to engage an easily distracted public.
Museums | Sep 14, 2016
Architectural model museum opens in Japan
The museum includes models from Japanese architects including Shingeru Ban, Kengo Kuma, and Riken Yamamoto.
Museums | Sep 14, 2016
Finnish government halts plans for Guggenheim Helsinki
Construction of the museum relied heavily on state funding, which has officially been denied.
Museums | Jun 17, 2016
Construction begins on new and expanded International Spy Museum in Washington D.C.
The building will have a glass veil that surrounds an enclosed black box, a setup that the museum hopes will add vibrancy to its new L’Enfant Plaza location.
Education Facilities | Jun 1, 2016
Gensler reveals designs for 35-acre AltaSea Campus at the Port of Los Angeles
New and renovated facilities will help researchers, educators, and visitors better understand the ocean.
Museums | May 26, 2016
Napur Architect wins design contest for Budapest’s Museum of Ethnography
The Museum of Ethnography’s new home will be part of a large museum complex in Budapest’s City Park
Museums | May 2, 2016
Rippled facade defines Snøhetta’s San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion design
The museum will have three times as much gallery space as before, along with a new theater, atrium, and living wall.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 12, 2016
Studio Libeskind designs angular Kurdish museum rich with symbolism
The museum consists of four geometric volumes separated by somber and uplifting divisions.
Museums | Mar 24, 2016
Aquarium of the Pacific unveils whale of a project
Designed by EHDD, the 18,000-sf, whale-shaped Pacific Visions will have gathering spots, galleries, and a theater with a large, curved screen.