Our firm designed a new 442-car parking garage and sculpture garden for the Philadelphia Museum of Art in collaboration with Olin landscape architects. Located on a hillside in Fairmount Park, the garage is almost entirely underground with the remainder concealed by landscaped boulder walls constructed to match the original, historic landscape. The one acre roof of the garage is covered by a sculpture garden and landscape over structure. An elegant glass pavilion marks the pedestrian entry to the garage and sculpture garden. Winding paths provide varied views of the sculptures and landscape and a gently sloped lawn descends to a paved terrace and fountain with views of the Philadelphia Waterworks and Schuylkill River.

The project has many sustainable design elements and received an official commendation from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for its environmentally friendly design and for ‘leading by example.’ Among the green features are the inclusion of 26,000 sf of green roofs which resulted in a net reduction in impervious surface area, the use areaways to bring air and light deep into the garage and to avoid the use of mechanical ventilation, and the incorporation of the majority of the boulders excavated from the site into the landscape.