Storm King Art Center has announced a $45 million capital project that will see the creation of a new welcome area, the construction of a conservation, fabrication, and maintenance building, and the advancement of the Center’s endeavors in landscape stewardship and environmental sustainability. 

The undertaking aims to creatively improve and preserve Storm King’s 500-acre site in New Windsor, New York. The museum is working with a global team of consultants, including project partners heneghan peng architects, WXY architecture + urban design, and landscape architecture firms Gustafson Porter + Bowman and Reed Hilderbrand. 

The initiative responds to the need to support continued growth in visitation and programming at the Center. According to a project announcement, the overall design and vision are guided by three core values: "A Gracious Arrival, Support for Artistic Vision, and A Sustainable Future." The development hopes to refocus on staff, artists, and visitors.

The new "Welcome Sequence" will feature a series of accessible pavilions offering hospitality and essential amenities, such as orientation, restrooms, and group gathering spaces. It will sit next to a parking area surrounded by natural landscaping. This area will eliminate visitors’ encounters with cars while exploring the museum by removing the parking lots within the grounds and consolidating them at the new site. 

Each pavilion will be carefully detailed and constructed of natural materials to maximize functionality while blending with the landscape and art. The landscape will be populated with native plants and shaped to guide visitors through an outdoor lobby and into the grounds. 

The Conservation, Fabrication, and Maintenance Building is conceived as a venue for creative collaboration. It will serve as a workshop, studio, mechanical shop, storage space, and office. The site will host conservation efforts for Storm King’s most valued sculptures and will also be a home for creating and fabricating new work. Like the welcome area, this building is designed to fit seamlessly with the landscape. Its location at the southern edge of the museum supports the project’s vision of prioritizing the art and landscape as the heart of the Center. 

Parking lots within the grounds will be repurposed into landscapes for art. New meadowed areas in the north and south will naturally extend existing exhibition spaces while providing spaces for exhibitions, temporary installations, and public programming. 

According to the Center, the new buildings are designed to use clean, all-electric renewable energy. The landscape will be enriched with more than 650 newly-planted trees to offer shade and promote biodiversity. A range of sustainability measures has resulted in the welcome space achieving LEED Gold certification. Key strategies include: utilizing natural air and light to efficiently reduce energy demand; using highly efficient all-electric heating and cooling equipment; using sustainable and durable materials to reduce embodied energy and limit long-term maintenance demands; supporting biodiversity and site hydrology to enhance local ecology; and enhancing mobility to Storm King to reduce carbon emission and promote staff wellness.

The capital project also supports the Center’s cultural, educational, and economic contributions to the surrounding Cornwall, Orange County, and greater Hudson Valley communities. The endeavor includes infrastructure improvements to external and internal roadways, including off-site traffic mitigation measures. In addition, the parking area is designed to promote and support the use of public transportation for travel to Storm King. 

"Storm King is very much a living landscape, and our light-touch design approach maintains the focus on art in the landscape," said WXY Founding Principal Claire Weisz. "The landscape and art remain the protagonists, with supportive, rather than competing, architectural elements. Every structure is porous, designed to support visitor movement and exploration of Storm King’s different environments while opening up multiple sight lines."

Design work for the project began in 2018, following an international design competition. This is the first North American project for heneghan peng architects. The development is set to break ground later this year and is expected to complete in 2024.