The 86,000 SF, LEED Certified, Anchorage Museum Expansion is organized into five linear volumes of varying length and height arranged along the western face of the existing museum to create a new presence and entrance facing downtown. The visitor within is reoriented to the city context and its extraordinary natural setting with views to the Chugach Mountains from the upper galleries. The four-story glass façade is fritted with a striped mirror pattern, reflecting the changing Alaska light, sky, surrounding city and mountains. The museum's new two-acre Common, landscaped with native birch trees and open lawns, provides a transition from the streets and a new public space.

The interior exposes the concrete column grid structure as part of the character of the internal spaces. Walls are constructed between columns to form a series of rooms. New public spaces on the ground floor - entrance lobby, open vertical circulation atrium, library/archives, café and giftshop - use different colors and materials to give each its own identity. Upper levels include the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and temporary exhibits. The interior transition between new and old wings is seamless with connecting hallways leading to the existing Atrium.

Design Architect: David Chipperfield Architects