Historic Elements Inform Tacoma Art Museum Addition
This Wednesday plans for a new wing of the Tacoma Art Museum go before Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. The new addition will be a significant presence on Pacific Avenue, and as such, preliminary sketches release last week have drawn understandable attention. LPC packets for this week’s meeting include a little more detail on the materials and design of the new wing.
The application describes an 18,000-square-foot addition, including 6,000 square feet of new gallery space and 3,000 square feet of new lobby space.
The addition brings badly needed infill to the Pacific Avenue street front. The design of the building form derives its aesthetic in part from its elemental simplicity and its use driven design like a long house, railroad station, boxcar, warehouse and other building types that have a tradition on or near the site. The high windows of interior sculpture hall along the street front will be shaded with exterior screens that have the scale and form of historic box cars. These screens can continually transform in configuration by rolling on track rails along the top of the building facade. A pedestrian scaled canopy, seating wall, outdoor artwork and landscaping will animate the public street front and attract visitors. A new 30-foot high large scaled entry canopy creates a junction between the existing and new museum as a public gathering area and will announce the museum to Pacific Avenue. This area, Tollefson Plaza in particular, is a traditional Native American gathering area. The project continues this tradition as a Tacoma civic gathering area.
The design draws inspiration from historical elements – logging, boat building, freight cars, and the rough wood of long houses. 
The new entryway to the museum would be under the larger canopy, with painted steel and a lower steel plate canopy. South of the entryway a sculpture gallery faces Pacific. Both the sculpture gallery and an extension to the lobby will be glass, offering glimpses of the interior. The walls of windows will be partially shaded by a system of sliding composite screens in a “warm brown color,” manually operated by a hand-crank in the lobby. The south and east facades will have a similar composite, the color intended to simulate the warmth and softness of wood in a more durable material.
The plans for the plaza in front of the museum propose the removal of most of the existing features – paving, planters, seating will all be removed and replaced, as will the elevator from the museum parking lot. Other changes include the replacement of dark-glazed windows on the existing building with clear windows.
The addition’s exterior design will need to conform to the Union Depot-Warehouse Historic District/Union Station conservation District guidelines. A few of those – building materials should be primarily masonry, and a preference for “storefront design” – could present challenges. Putting those questions aside for the LPC, what do you think of the design?
More details available in the LPC packet. Previously from Exit133: A New Look For the Tacoma Art Museum.
Filed under: Downtown Tacoma, Arts, Neighborhoods, Museums, Tacoma Art Museum
6 comments
D Dan H. April 22, 2013
Looks pretty cool from the more complete set of drawings. Definitely a big improvement. There is not going to be a pedestrian paridise complete with sidewalk cafes and street vendors along that stretch from 21st to Hood St on the east side of Pacific any time in the near future. Those three giant buildings preclude any chance of it. The link also disconnects the east and the west sides of the street. The addition of plants and trees is the best option to humanize that sidewalk and the building at the edge of walk is much better than the current fence (too bad the court house wasn’t built the same way.) A large outdoor sculpture is the only street level improvement I would like to see, but it could be added later. The other thing that would be nice is a green roof rather than a gravel roof. I really like the observation platform on the 2nd floor. Looking down at a green roof on the new wing would be much more pleasant than blinding light off of gravel.
M Mofo from the Hood April 23, 2013
Preserve the integrity of the existing TAM building. Keep the plaza as open space, at least south to where the TAM sign wall edge starts.
The Old West collection should be built as a free standing addition to the TAM campus.
The juxtaposition of two unique ideas from two unique architects will, as the renderings show, result in an overwrought imposition.
C CA April 24, 2013
I’m no architect, but I think the design is rather boring and uninspiring.
R RR Anderson April 24, 2013
wealthy germans love rail cars!
T talus April 25, 2013
It’s hard to make an add-on inspiring — relatively inobtrusive (which this seems to be) may be good enough. But give it a green roof that you can climb up on to see the view…
T tacomathinker April 25, 2013
a museum by it’s nature is not likely to open up to the street – so the fact that there’s anything going on at all is a testament to the thoughtfulness of both the museum and the architect. I like the moving screens and I think they will peak the interest of pedestrians enough to get them to pause and stare. I also like the decision not to match the original siding. They’re even going to take out the awful black windows – which as I understand were originally intended to be clear
Would another string of vibrant shops be better, sure but I think this is an excellent job for what it is.