Ground broke this month on an expansion to a museum that holds more than 7,000 pieces of art. The architecture firm Foster + Partners designed a new West Wing for the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The renovations include 12,000 sf of new gallery space, a 210-seat auditorium, two new classrooms, a student gallery, and a family gallery, which will have a 150-foot-long colonnade with large windows that look out onto the surrounding garden.
A new 3,600-sf, 43-foot-tall “great hall” will serve as a gathering spot at the center of the building.
Outside, 20,000 sf of lawns and plantings will replace an existing parking lot, and part of that area will be a 9,000-sf event lawn that will host parties. The designers call the concept “a museum in a garden.”
“The new extension of the museum represents an exciting opportunity to place the reinvigorated Norton at the heart of Florida’s cultural life and to establish its international presence, allowing more people to enjoy the museum’s very special collection,” Norman Foster, Founder and Chairman, Foster + Partners, said in a statement.
“Reinforcing its natural setting with a ‘museum in a garden,’ our aim has been to restore a sense of clarity to the existing building by reasserting the logic of the original plan; creating new event and visitor spaces that will transform the museum into the social heart of the community; as well as increasing the gallery and exhibition spaces, to engage with a wider audience, both local and national.”
The museum, which contains paintings from Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas along with other contemporary art and photography, was built in 1941. A 45,000-sf expansion in 2003 made the museum the largest in the state.
The "great hall" will serve as a lounge that can host events.
Added green space will make the Norton a “a museum in a garden.”
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
| Aug 19, 2022
Manassas Museum renovated to reimagine a civic design & engage the community
Manassas, VA has recently added to its historic Manassas Museum.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 5, 2022
A time and a place: Telling American stories through architecture
As the United States enters the year 2026, it will commence celebrating a cycle of Sestercentennials, or 250th anniversaries, of historic and cultural events across the land.
Museums | Jul 11, 2022
Denmark opens a museum that tells the stories of refugees worldwide
Located on the site of Denmark’s largest World War II refugee camp, the new Refugee Museum of Denmark, FLUGT, tells the stories of refugees from the camp as well as refugees worldwide.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Museums | May 31, 2022
University of Texas at Dallas breaks ground on new 12-acre cultural district
The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) recently broke ground on the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the first phase of a new 12-acre cultural district on campus.
Museums | Mar 16, 2022
Unpacking the secrets to good museum storage
Museum leaders should focus as much design attention on the archives as the galleries themselves, according to a new white paper by Erin Flynn and Bruce Davis, architects and museum experts with the firm Cooper Robertson.
Projects | Mar 2, 2022
Construction nears completion on $1B Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo
At an estimated budget of $1 billion, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is considered the largest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization. The superlatives don’t end there: It’s also the largest museum in Egypt, the largest Pharaonic museum in the world, and one of the world’s leading scientific, historical, and archeological study centers.
Museums | Feb 25, 2022
Virginia Museum of History and Culture set to reopen after 18-month renovation
Expanded exhibits present new learning approaches.
