Manassas, VA has recently broken ground on an addition to its Manassas Museum. The museum initially opened as a temporary exhibit in 1974 and was later relocated to downtown Manassas in 1991. The addition is set to open in 2023 on the 150th anniversary of the Manassas community.
The Manassas Museum had already had a huge amount of significance in the Historic Downtown, providing space for education, conversation, and a regional connection in the community. As for the addition, the city partnered with GWWO Architects in order to reimagine a renewed civic design.
The renovation will transform the physical relationship between the museum and its lawn by removing an existing isolating courtyard wall. The addition will be situated to engage the community, fully activate the museum green space, and improve visitor flow. The expansion will elevate the museum’s presence, responding to its role as a significant piece of civic architecture while respecting the scale of the historic core and view of the building’s iconic cupola. Visible from the nearby train station, the expansion will attract new visitors to educate them on the story of Manassas.
The addition will flank the building’s existing wings and welcome those arriving downtown. Clad in pre-patinated copper, the form of the special exhibit hall opens to the park creating dynamic views that engage visitors and the community. Transparent glazing along the courtyard will create a continual dialogue between the museum and outdoor spaces.
Renovations to the existing building include a new exhibit space with views into an expanded collections storage area.
The 4,800-sf addition also includes:
- A new exhibit hall
- Offices
- Support space
- An administrative wing located opposite of the new exhibit hall
- A re-envisioned courtyard and amphitheater
- A new entry and corridors with exhibits
Museum sustainable best practices:
- Bird-friendly glazing
- Low-albedo roofing
- LED lighting
- Daylighting in all occupied spaces
- Upgrades to high-efficiency mechanical with energy recovery
On the Building Team:
Owner/Developer: City of Manassas
Landscape Architect: RHI
MEP Engineer: Mueller Associates
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Civil Engineer: Ross-France
Cost Estimator: Forella Group
Geotechnical Engineer: Schnabel
Related Stories
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
| Nov 19, 2013
Top 10 green building products for 2014
Assa Abloy's power-over-ethernet access-control locks and Schüco's retrofit façade system are among the products to make BuildingGreen Inc.'s annual Top-10 Green Building Products list.
| Nov 13, 2013
Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study
The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.
| Nov 13, 2013
First look: Renzo Piano's addition to Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum [slideshow]
The $135 million, 101,130-sf colonnaded pavilion by the famed architect opens later this month.
| Oct 30, 2013
15 stellar historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation projects
The winners of the 2013 Reconstruction Awards showcase the best work of distinguished Building Teams, encompassing historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovations and additions.
| Oct 30, 2013
Steven Holl selected for Culture and Art Center in Qingdao, besting Zaha Hadid, OMA
Steven Holl Architects has been selected by near unanimous jury decision as the winner of the new Culture and Art Center of Qingdao City competition, besting OMA and Zaha Hadid Architects. The 2 million-sf project for four museums is the heart of the new extension of Qingdao, China, planned for a population of 700,000.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 29, 2013
BIG opens subterranean Danish National Maritime Museum [slideshow]
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has completed the Danish National Maritime Museum in Helsingør. By marrying the crucial historic elements with an innovative concept of galleries and way-finding, BIG’s renovation scheme reflects Denmark's historical and contemporary role as one of the world's leading maritime nations.
| Oct 28, 2013
Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it
Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
