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Take a look inside Allied Works' Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State ahead of June opening

2024-04-11T12:15:00-04:00

Allied Works’ collaboration with Reed Hilderbrand for the new Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University is closing in on its June 1st opening. The firm has shared new photos previewing its work ahead of the inauguration, which will culminate a two-year construction period for a cost of $85 million.

The 73,000-square-foot building is defined by interlocking sandstone-clad pavilions contained within double-height volumes. These allow for unique spatial variations in each of the 20 new galleries, highlighting the diversity of its collection to visitors.

Image: Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA

An overhead skybridge — the new Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Gateway — links both wings while establishing panoramic vistas of the university's Arboretum and H.O. Smith Botanic Garden outside. —

Image: Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA

Small exterior courtyards are created by the design, which is similar in concept to Allied Works' 2008 Dutchess County Guest House in upstate New York and the firm's shortlisted compet...

Allied Works' Palmer Museum of Art is set for a 2024 opening at Penn State

2023-12-14T14:21:00-05:00

The Allied Works-designed Palmer Museum of Art expansion project at Pennsylvania State University has shared new photos of its construction progress to go along with an announced opening date of June 1 next year.

Reed Hilderbrand is coordinating with the firm to deliver the landscaped portion of the LEED Silver-certified design. The project doubles the museum’s existing footprint by adding a new 73,000-square-foot building with 20 new galleries, a café, education, research, and events spaces situated amongst the 370-acre university Arboretum and serviced by a sculpture path and outdoor terraces.

Dale Chihuly’s site-specific sculptural commission, “Lupine Blue Persian Wall,” will be debuted as an anchor that welcomes visitors to the main access point and is framed by the museum’s feature staircase.

Photo by Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA, courtesy of Allied Works.

Locally quarried sandstone cladding produces a naturalistic effect on the exterior of each of the building’s interlocking pavilio...

Allied Works shares a fly-through of their Palmer Museum of Art design for Penn State University

2022-10-10T15:46:00-04:00

Allied Works has shared a new fly-through animation of their Palmer Museum of Art project on the campus of Penn State University. The 71,254-square-foot museum offers a significant upgrade to the university’s previous 50-year-old facility.

The animation showcases the site’s enhanced connection to the Penn State Arboretum and the museum's expanded double-height gallery spaces that allow for twice the amount of its collection to be exhibited versus the original building.

Image courtesy MIR

Image courtesy D-Render

The sandstone-clad design incorporates two interlocking pavilions that are linked together by a glass curtain skybridge, with a series of skylights operated by a multi-layer daylight control system. Additional portals serve as curated "lenses" through which the landscaped connection provided by Reed Hilderbrand can be assessed by the museum's 70,000 anticipated yearly visitors.

Previously on Archinect: Allied Works reveals plans for its expansion of the new Palmer Museum at P...

Allied Works reveals plans for its expansion of the new Palmer Museum at Penn State

2021-07-31T21:22:00-04:00

Final plans for the new LEED-certified museum expansion at Penn State have been unveiled this week after years of anticipation for a project with an ultimate price tag of $85 million.

The project, announced by the school’s board of trustees in 2019, will significantly improve physical spaces for the nearly 50-year-old Palmer Museum of Art, which has been plagued by water damage and an antiquated heating and air system for a number of years.

Palmer Museum Rendering, View from Overlook Pavilion Arboretum. Rendering by MIR

Allied Works will partner with designers from Reed Hilderbrand to create a site-specific expansion on the university’s campus that responds to the local environment in Happy Valley via enhancements to an existing arboretum and a duo of walkway-linked pavilion-style buildings made of stone from local quarries.

The new buildings will allow the museum’s collection to be exhibited in more natural surroundings to the over 10,000 student visitors it hosts every year.

The...