Rebecca Maloney
Americas Press Office ,Boston
The new addition for Boston’s Gardner Museum, with daylighting and architectural lighting design by Arup, is now officially open to the public.
Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the new building features 70,000ft2 of space next to the Italian Renaissance-inspired 1903 main building, known as ‘the palace’.
The modern, glass-walled new structure’s scale and proportions complement the palace, reinterpreting the vision of founder Isabella Stewart Gardner by emphasizing a strong connection to the outdoors throughout. Where the original museum featured a plant-filled central courtyard that galleries opened onto, the new structure offers views to the exterior and natural light in almost every space, including those which are typically cut off from the outside.
Arup’s lighting design balances daylighting and electric lighting to provide a comfortable atmosphere and a strong connection to nature throughout at all times of day. Innovative design elements such as a large skylight in the music hall required careful calibration to avoid glare and unwanted acoustical effects.