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Ennead Architects lead the renovation of the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut
The Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, has completed the major renovation and expansion of the site, and begun installation of the museum’s renowned collections. The Gallery opens to the public on 12 December 2012, the renovation and restoration overseen by Duncan Hazard and Richard Olcott of Ennead Architects, based in New York. The Gallery’s development has come to $135m, fully financed by gifts from individuals and foundations.
The project includes detailed restoration work to the interior and the creation of a new rooftop sculpture terrace linking the Old Yale Art Gallery to the Louis Kahn-designed building with integrated temporary exhibition spaces. As such, the scheme unites the Old Yale Art Gallery (designed by Egerton Swartwout), the Kahn building and 1866 Street Hall (designed by Peter Bonnett Wight) into a cohesive whole whilst maintaining the historical architectural identity of each.
The Gallery now boasts 64,375 sq ft of exhibiting space, and hopes to transform the visitor experience, with a new stairway and elevator to unify circulation patterns to a logical flow, and enhanced the exterior walls’ thermal performance. A rooftop structure has been added, providing a new suite of temporary exhibition galleries, made of zinc and glass.
The expanded Gallery will be able to house and exhibit a larger proportion of its collections than ever before; the current installation of European art displays some 135 works, while the new galleries will feature about 350.
The new Gallery includes eight classrooms to enhance the educational elements of the Gallery experience, and also boasts a major new resource for teaching and learning: the Nolen Center for Art and Education. The facility is almost 5,000 sq ft on the ground floor of Street Hall, and will enable the Gallery to offer greatly expanded education programs. Open to both Yale students and local residents and visitors, the Nolen Center includes two seminar rooms and a library, placing the Gallery in ranks of the nation’s leading public museums.
Samantha Morley
Editorial
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