The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has just celebrated its topping out for the new 75,000-square-foot NHM Commons expansion led by LA mainstays Studio-MLA and Frederick Fisher and Partners.

The project creates a new wing and community hub on the southwest side of the museum’s campus in Exposition Park and will be open to the public by the end of next year following a multi-year construction phase.

The museum describes: “The indoor/outdoor NHM Commons spaces will enable NHM to expand its community-centered, co-created programming, thereby further connecting the public with science, nature, culture, heritage, and community, while creating opportunities for people to come together to experience NHM, with or without a ticket.”

At last week’s special beam signing ceremony, NHMLAC President and Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga added: “This transformative expansion will be a dynamic community hub with a multitude of new and refreshed spaces that will burst with vital, enriching, and accessible experiences celebrating the intersections of science, nature, culture, heritage, and community.”

Studio Joseph also designed experiences for the NHM Commons initiative, which relied heavily on input from the region's Native American Advisory Council to include considerations for cultural respect and land acknowledgment of the various descendant communities across Southern California and the Los Angeles basin.

The museum is also involved in the creation of even more indoor-outdoor public space as part of the larger La Brea Tar Pits overhaul led by Weiss/Manfredi at its Hancock Park facilities. 

The total cost for the NHM Commons project is $75 million, funded in part by contributions from Ron Perlstein, the Annenberg Foundation, the State of California, and other friends of the now 110-year-old institution.