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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 selected to lead Vero Beach Museum of Art expansion and renovation

2022-06-24T13:45:00-04:00

The Vero Beach Museum of Art (VBMA) has announced the appointment of international design firm Allied Works Architecture to lead the expansion and renovation of the 35-year-old institution. Recognized for its arts and cultural projects, Allied Works will focus on building the museum's resiliency and future growth needs.

Allied Works was chosen following an extensive nine-month search that included a line-up of 13 national architecture firms and an eventual shortlist of four. VBMA worked with architect selection advisor David Meckel to conduct the selection process. The design team will be led by Allied Works founder Brad Cloepfil and Principals Chelsea Grassinger and Gabe Smith.

"We're delighted to have the opportunity to work with everyone at VBMA and bring this project to fruition," said Grassinger.

"Brad, Chelsea, Gabe and their team fully embraced the complexities and opportunities of our project, which involves opening up to a lush park environment while simultaneously buildi...

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...

The designs of Allied Works – a "counter proposal to the age of instant image making"

2016-02-10T17:24:00-05:00

What I like and what I believe about those sketches and models is that they’re distillations of ideas ... They could become art installations, or they could become buildings. They’re sort of hybrid pieces in the world of visual ideas before they become buildings [...] I always go see the site and try to discern what the energy, nature, and character of the place are—the possibilities of a place. Then I start drawing.

More from the Portland, OR and NYC-based firm:

Architect Brad Cloepfil: On architecture, design in Portland, and Allied Works' first creative phase

2012-01-25T20:40:00-05:00

The majority of architecture culture just puts out books. I mean, if we were to participate in that consumer culture of architecture publications, we would have put a book out six or seven years ago. But I wanted to wait until we had buildings. We feature one competition in the book and the rest of it is about real projects. That means a lot to me as an architect.