The James-Simon-Galerie, the first new building on Berlin’s Museum Island in nearly 100 years, opened to the public on July 13, 2019 and acts as the new entrance building to the island. The building sits at a key location in front of or behind the Neues Museum and Pergamon Museum, complementing the interplay of spatial alignments on the island and reorientating it towards the city.
The project plays an essential role in the Museum Island master plan and links four of the five museums via the Archaeological promenade below ground (the project includes 3 above ground levels, one mezzanine, and two below ground levels). The master plan sets a framework for developing a modern museum complex while preserving the unique historical ensemble, and the James-Simon-Galerie does just that by providing a contemporary aesthetic that blends in with the surrounding museums.
Upper foyer, main internal staircase. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
The primary façade material is cast stone. An aggregate made of white marble gravel from Saxony lends the entrance building its tonality, integrating it into the diversity of materials on Museum Island. Behind the building's columns, the envelop is glazed, and stabilized by eight-meter-high vertical façade supports, themselves made from glass.
See Also: POST Houston mixed-use development will include a five-acre “skylawn”
Inside, the structure is characterized by textured surfaces, in particular smooth in-situ concrete walls in fair-face concrete and floors made of bright Crailsheim shell limestone. The mezzanine floor and the auditorium have smoked oak parquet flooring. Bronze was used for window profiles, doors and handrails throughout the building. A copper braid was used on selected ceilings, including in the café.
Plinth and tall colonnade (92 columns). Photo: Photo: © Simon Menges.
The 10,900-sm building was designed to welcome large numbers of visitors and to house all the facilities required by contemporary museum-goers. The James-Simon-Galerie also includes divisible temporary exhibition space and a 350-seat auditorium. Outside of museum hours, a grand staircase, a terrace with café, and a new courtyard will be accessible to the public.
Revolving doors and draft lobbies help minimize heat loss despite the expected high frequency of visitors. The use of radiant building components implemented in the plant technology of the building uses thermally activated surfaces to cover the base load in heating and cooling, reducing the air volume flows. A thermally active and acoustically absorbent ceiling with a copper mesh cladding, which was used in selected areas, also has a positive effect.
Museum Island has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999 and is visited by about three million people every year.
Auditorium. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
Temporary exhibition space. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
View from Schlossbrücke. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
Related Stories
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
| Sep 7, 2014
Behind the scenes of integrated project delivery — successful tools and applications
The underlying variables and tools used to manage collaboration between teams is ultimately the driving for success with IPD, writes CBRE Healthcare's Megan Donham.
| Sep 3, 2014
New designation launched to streamline LEED review process
The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.
| Sep 2, 2014
Ranked: Top green building sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Gensler, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 29, 2014
Phifer and Partners to design 'transparent' Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
The design includes a stage that opens onto the city's Parade Square, so anyone passing by will be able to see performances.
| Aug 25, 2014
Ranked: Top cultural facility sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Arup, Gensler, and Turner head BD+C's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 14, 2014
Museum of Mayan Culture draws inspiration from temple design [slideshow]
The Museo Maya de América in Guatemala City will be the world’s largest museum of Mayan history and culture, at 60,000 sf.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
