aspen art museum
Aspen, ColoradO
Project details
ROLE: PROJECT DIRECTOR/OWNER REPRESENATIVE
Duration: Project Manager/Owner Representative from March 2008 through June 2011
Client: Aspen Art Museum
Project Size: 30,000 sf
Project team
Design Architect: Shigeru Ban Architect, Tokyo, Paris, New York (Priztker Prize Winner 2014)
Local Architect: Cottle, Carr, Yaw, Basalt, CO
Climate Engineer: Transsolar, Stuttgart, New York
Facade: Front, New York
Structural Engineer: KL+A, Basalt & Denver, CO
MEP Engineer: Beaudin Ganz (BGCE), Avon & Denver, CO
General Contractor: Turner Construction: Denver, Kansas City
Timber Space Frame Subcontractor: Spearhead Timberworks, Nelson, BC
Project narrative
The Project consisted of a Contemporary Art Museum for visiting art exhibitions, and for multi functional space to service museum board events and public events. The Project incorporates 12,500SF of exhibition space in 5 distinct galleries, museum shop/bookstore, café, outdoor/rooftop public terrace, grand staircase that serves to direct visitor to top level to begin experience of building, a movable room (glass enclosed 12’ x 15’ elevator) that also serves to enable ‘top down’ experience, education space, theatre/lecture space, art receiving/distribution space. The program included ambitious goals for energy efficiency to serve as an example to the community for an institutional use. The project was significantly influenced by an extremely challenging Ownership group, with widely diverse interests and stake holdings.
“With Rich’s leadership, we were able to navigate this complex process with the client, city, and various stakeholders at the Aspen Art Museum. In particular he worked closely with us with our innovative consultants such as Front and Transsolar who together, provided external and internal environmental expertise to the facade and climate design of the museum…Rich brings with him, experience working on another high profile project with an architect we respect enormously…we appreciated his steadiness and his ability to find common ground between parties”
Innovations
The Local Architect and Key Consultants were identified by Project-Workshop and engaged early in the process: The world renowned firm of Transsolar, climate engineers, and the acclaimed firm of Front, building envelope engineers, along with local MEP firm of Beaudin Ganz Consulting Engineers, were engaged to collaborate and inform the design from the beginning stages. They provided detailed initial data for solar, wind, and thermal (TRNSYS) analysis and created strategies that were directly incorporated into the design: a) Maximally insulated, air tight, interior opaque walls, a significant glass facade utilizing a unique, ‘woven wood' (resin impregnated) rain screen, b) Highly insulated, spectrally selective windows and ‘walkable’ glass roof element with thermally broken frames, c) Passive solar space heating, d) Efficient solar shading (controlled by the Building Management System), e) ‘Thermos’ concept whereby galleries, requiring more stringent temperature and humidity requirements) were placed internally to allow for circulation space to ‘wrap around’ with less conditioned, ‘insulating’ circulation space, f) Exposed thermal mass for temperature stabilization, g) Mechanical ventilation with enthalpy recovery, h) Radiant heating and cooling, i) Natural ventilation in summer and intermediate seasons, j) Photovoltaic array, k) geothermal heating and cooling (wells take advantage of relatively shallow 80’ ground water table), l) and a Building Management System (BMS), monitoring an array of system points to precisely control HVAC system, shades, lighting, and geothermal. Project-Workshop worked with Ownership to re-evaluate and reduce traditional museum temperature and humidity requirements that allowed for more energy efficient design.
Management responsibilities
Integrated project delivery coordination and management, including: development of the building program to be transmitted to architect, (spearheading effort with the museum director and 26-person staff), coordination and set up of contractual arrangement with international design architect (chosen by selection committee) and local project architect, Team building (identified and selected all consultants and builder), Development of multiple project budgets and schedules to accommodate very fluid fundraising efforts and the consideration of two separate sites. Assistance/coordination with site negotiations with the Seller(s) and the City of Aspen. Considerable effort was expended in educating the diverse ownership group as to benefits of energy efficient design and merits of the Design Architect’s extraordinary vision. Project-Workshop left the project in June 2011 to pursue other opportunities as the project went on hold for a third time.