Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery
Middletown, Conn.
Belmont Freeman Architects

Monumental modern gallery receives deft facelift

© Christopher Wesnofske

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The Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery is a central component of Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts, a complex of iconic modern buildings designed by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo Associates in the 1960s and opened in 1973. The university commissioned Belmont Freeman Architects to design a renovation of the gallery that would upgrade all building systems and make the space more compatible to the display of contemporary art—yet preserve the original architecture’s monumental character.

The Zilkha gallery measures 30 feet by 60 feet with 24-foot high ceilings. Restoration work included installing new lighting, HVAC systems, display rigging, movable partitions and window treatments. Where carpets once graced the gallery floors, there are now 24-inch cork tile squares installed over a radiant heating system. In the ceiling, meanwhile, Pyrok acoustical plaster—tinted to resemble the original beige concrete—now hides conduits for the lighting and life safety systems. The new ceiling also helps tame the space’s acoustics and hides framework to support artwork. Restorers also replaced skylights with new ones that are specially coated to transmit fewer UV rays.

Among the project’s other challenges, the restoration team repaired the gallery’s 14-inch thick limestone block walls. This work involved filling in holes created by anchors for artwork that had been repeatedly hung and removed during the past three decades. The entire project represented a rigorous exercise in the special challenges of preserving a powerful work of modern architecture.

Formal name of Project:
Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery

Location:
Middletown, Conn.

Gross square footage:
5,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$840,000

Owner:
Wesleyan University, Center for the Arts
www.wesleyan.edu/cfa/

Architect:
Belmont Freeman Architects
110 W 40 Street
New York NY 10018
212.382.3311
F 212.730.1229
www.belmontfreeman.com