This extensive renovation transformed a Fifth Avenue mansion designed by Carrère & Hastings in 1914 into a museum devoted to German and Austrian art. The practical challenges included adding entrance ramps without detracting from the ornate brick and limestone exterior, inserting new mechanical systems without compromising original interior details, and reorganizing spaces without disturbing the gracious proportions of the rooms. The reconfigured building provides gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as a bookstore, design shop, and Viennese-style café. Administrative offices, conservation studios, and archival facilities round out the structure’s 23,000 sf.

Elegant new entrance ramps are the first sign that the building has been given a new life. Inside, the ground floor was gently reconfigured to accommodate a new elevator and coat check room. On the second floor, walls were restored or, in the case of the mirrored music room, replaced with recessed plaster panels for the display of the permanent collection. The third floor houses an entirely new gallery for temporary exhibitions. Levels four and five contain the Museum’s administrative space and conservation studios. A skylight over the building’s central atrium stair was rebuilt allowing natural light to penetrate into the core of the building.