urbanSTL

Saint Louis Art Museum Announces Expansion Design

$125 Million Project Adds Galleries and Public Amenities; Chipperfield Plan Extends and Enhances Museum Campus



November 5, 2007—The Board of Commissioners of the Saint Louis Art Museum unveiled designs today for a $125 million expansion of its historic facility in Forest Park. The expansion will increase the Museum's galleries and public spaces, providing new exhibition space for the Museum's comprehensive collection of more than 30,000 objects and for touring exhibitions.



The design will result in the relocation of surface parking into a 300-space below-grade parking garage. The project also includes a new restaurant and a new, fully accessible entrance directly off Fine Arts Drive with a dedicated entry to the south of the building for school and adult group arrival. The Museum expects to break ground on the expansion project in late 2008, with completion anticipated in 2011.



Recognized in October with England's highest honor for architecture-the Royal Institute of British Architects' James Stirling Prize-London-based architect David Chipperfield unveiled models and renderings for a design that demonstrates his firm's sensitivity to both the Museum's historic Cass Gilbert-designed building and its dramatic setting in Forest Park.



The design calls for an addition to the east and south of the original 1904 building with a dark, polished concrete façade incorporating Missouri river aggregate. New galleries and public spaces will feature skylights and a number of floor-to-ceiling windows to invite and provide views from both inside and outside. The plan provides for 82,452 square feet of new galleries, public space and collections support plus 128,979 square feet for below-grade parking.



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Chipperfield's design organically links the expansion to the current structure by connecting to existing primary circulation axes. It features a new central staircase to more clearly connect the main level to a new, lower level public concourse serving an expanded café and the existing museum shop and auditorium. A new restaurant will feature a dramatic overlook of Forest Park to the north. Existing Museum surface parking will be relocated to a three-level, below-grade parking garage. Through the expansion project, the current facility will also be improved, with 13,325 square feet of space renovated for education, classroom and public use, as well as additional permanent collection galleries.



"The Cass Gilbert building—the only remaining building from the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition—is integral to the Museum's history and identity," Chipperfield said. "We sought not only to maintain its Sculpture Hall as the symbolic heart of the Museum but to create a strong relationship between landscape and architecture."

Framer wrote:I'm confused by the first rendering, though. It looks like the new building is entirely behind the original Cass Gilbert building, yet the second rendering and the plan clearly show it alongside the original, with an entrance facing Art Hill. What gives?

JMedwick wrote:^ It doesn't even necessarily have to be a SLAM only building. For all that the Arch symbolizes westward expansion, the truth is that the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch is pretty pathetic. I have long thought a joint local effort between SLAM, Missouri Historical Society and the Mercantile Library could put together a much better museum, especially if such a museum participated as a Smithsonian satellite facility.



Either way, it is good to see SLAM expanding to display more of their collection.

Grover wrote:The Mercantile Library at the Arch would have been (would be) fantastic! Can you imagine actually having a resource down there that would be of use to someone other than a tourist? I guess it would never work - much better to have it at UMSL.

Roy314 wrote:We’ve seen far too many expansions that look like UFOs crashing into old buildings.