Located in Little Rock, the Arkansas Arts Center is currently undergoing a $142 million transformation to become the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. The new museum will include an increase in space of almost 50% and the addition of 13 acres of new grounds.
The signature feature of Studio Gang’s design is a new structure, dubbed the Blossom, that winds through the length of the museum. Defined outwardly by its pleated roof, the Blossom will become the core of the visitor experience, laying out a clear path for visitors, uniting the museum’s programmed spaces, and providing major new public features at either end: an expansive glass-enclosed gathering space overlooking the Downtown side, and a restaurant that spreads out into MacArthur Park. The pleated roof also allows for the collection of storm water, which will feed the park’s new gardens and native perennial meadows.
The project joins the landscape experience with the museum and provides 2,200 linear feet of new paths and trails throughout 13 acres of MAcArthur Park. Inspiration for the landscape (designed by SCAPE Landscape Architecture) draws from Little Rock’s unique regional ecologies, including the banks of Fourche Creek, the bluffs of Emerald Park, and the agrarian landscapes of the Mississippi Delta.
SCAPE’s design preserves many of the parks existing mature trees and relies on sustainable, native plantings and incorporates more than 50 species of perennials, shrubs, native trees, and ornamental grasses. An additional 250 new trees will be planted, which will create a canopy throughout the park over time.
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is slated for completion in spring 2022.
Related Stories
Cultural Facilities | Apr 8, 2024
Multipurpose sports facility will be first completed building at Obama Presidential Center
When it opens in late 2025, the Home Court will be the first completed space on the Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago. Located on the southwest corner of the 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, the Home Court will be the largest gathering space on the campus. Renderings recently have been released of the 45,000-sf multipurpose sports facility and events space designed by Moody Nolan.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 27, 2024
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium is a world-class facility home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats ranging from small tanks to a giant 400,000-gallon shark tank.
Museums | Mar 25, 2024
Chrysler Museum of Art’s newly expanded Perry Glass Studio will display the art of glassmaking
In Norfolk, Va., the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Perry Glass Studio, an educational facility for glassmaking, will open a new addition in May. That will be followed by a renovation of the existing building scheduled for completion in December.
Museums | Mar 11, 2024
Nebraska’s Joslyn Art Museum to reopen this summer with new Snøhetta-designed pavilion
In Omaha, Neb., the Joslyn Art Museum, which displays art from ancient times to the present, has announced it will reopen on September 10, following the completion of its new 42,000-sf Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion. Designed in collaboration with Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, the Hawks Pavilion is part of a museum overhaul that will expand the gallery space by more than 40%.
Products and Materials | Feb 29, 2024
Top building products for February 2024
BD+C Editors break down February's top 15 building products, from custom-engineered glass bridges to washroom accessories.
Giants 400 | Feb 8, 2024
Top 40 Museum Construction Firms for 2023
Turner Construction, Clark Group, Bancroft Construction, STO Building Group, and Alberici-Flintco top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest museum and gallery general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 8, 2024
Top 40 Museum Engineering Firms for 2023
Arup, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers, Kohler Ronan, and Thornton Tomasetti top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest museum and gallery engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 8, 2024
Top 70 Museum Architecture Firms for 2023
SmithGroup, Gensler, Ayers Saint Gross, Quinn Evans, HGA, and Cooper Robertson head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest museum and gallery architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Museums | Jan 30, 2024
Meier Partners' South Korean museum seeks to create a harmonious relationship between art and nature
For the design of the newly completed Sorol Art Museum in Gangneung, South Korea, Meier Partners drew from Korean Confucianism to achieve a simplicity of form, material, and composition and a harmonious relationship with nature. The museum is scheduled to open on February 14. It is the firm’s first completed project since restructuring as Meier Partners.
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Jan 17, 2024
Waterproofing deep foundations for new construction
This continuing education course, by Walter P Moore's Amos Chan, P.E., BECxP, CxA+BE, covers design considerations for below-grade waterproofing for new construction, the types of below-grade systems available, and specific concerns associated with waterproofing deep foundations.
