The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s new David and Fela Shapell Family Collections and Conservation Center has broken ground at an undisclosed location. The 100,000-sf building is designed by SmithGroupJJR.
The new Shapell Center will provide the archival-quality environments to support the preservation of artifacts documenting the Holocaust, ensuring that the evidence of the genocide will not be lost to future generations. With planned expansion space, the Shapell Center will provide a home for the growing collection.
The facility is designed to balance collections and non-collections. The building is organized in two halves: a “clean” side accommodates collections-related activities that includes a reading room; artifact storage; conservations labs for the treatment objects, textiles, paper and photographs; and a collections processing suite with a photo studio for digitizing the collection. A “dirty” side provides standard conditioning for non-collections storage; isolated wood, metal and paint shops for exhibit design and production; and staff office space.
Construction of the Shapell Center is expected to be completed in early 2017. SmithGroupJJR’s design services include architecture, MEP engineering, lighting design, landscape architecture and interior design. SmithGroupJJR leads the broader design team which includes Weidlinger Associates, Inc., The Sextant Group, Inc. and Rummel Klepper & Kahl. DPR Construction is serving as the construction manager.
Related Stories
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.
Museums | Mar 3, 2016
How museums engage visitors in a digital age
Digital technologies are opening up new dimensions of the museum experience and turning passive audiences into active content generators, as Gensler's Marina Bianchi examines.
