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“BEGO” Benozzo Gozzoli Museum Fuglsang Kunstmuseum Jane and Arthur Stieren Center for exhibitions Lightcatcher Building at the Whatcom Museum Museum of Chinese in America Museum Liaunig Nezu Museum Paula Rego MuseumPorsche Museum Santa Marta Lighthouse Museum Second phase of the Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum University of Michigan Museum of Art
Second phase of the Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum
Completion Date: August 2008
Client: Natural History Museum
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Program: The 8-story 172,220-square-foot addition to the Natural History Museum houses 17 million entomology and 3 million botany specimens in archival, exhibition, laboratory, and office space. Employee facilities include a roof terrace and cafe. A lecture hall doubles as a television studio for presentations and productions.
Design concept and solution: To symbolize the immensity of the entomological and botanical collections housed within the Natural History Museum, C.F. Møller Architects created a massive cocoon that is nearly 200 feet long, 100 feet high, 40 feet wide, with walls virtually a foot thick. The cocoon, shaped by reinforced steel rods that support woven mesh and sprayed concrete, glistens with a polished ivory-color plaster finish. A series of expansion joints meant to resemble silk threads envelop the cocoon. The pod is included by full-height glass walls, creating a giant terrarium that links the museum’s 1881 building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, to the 2002 first phase of the Darwin Centre addition, which was designed by HOK International. The second phase of construction improves circulation by linking the cocoon with these existing buildings, clarifying the circulation patterns within for both staff members and an estimated 2,500 daily visitors.
Gross square footage:
172,220 sq. ft.
Total construction cost:
£78 million
Architect:
C. F. Møller Architects
36-38 Whitefriars Street
London EC4Y 8BQ, United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 7427 1530
F: +44 (0)20 7427 1531
www.cfmoller.com
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