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Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Bloch Building

The first major addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art since 1933 that fuses architecture with light and landscape

The Bloch Building

Information

  • Location Kansas City, Missouri
  • Size 154,834 SF
  • Completion 2007
  • Services Architecture
  • Project Type Museums

The Henry W. and Marion H. Bloch Gallery of Art, an expansion to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, fuses architecture with landscape and features five striking glass “lenses” rising from the rolling terrain on the east side of the Museum. The new addition contains galleries and public facilities including an entry lobby, an art library, a cafe and a sculpture court devoted to the works of Isamu Noguchi. About 55 percent more space is available for the Museum’s permanent collection and space for special exhibits is doubled. A new entry plaza features a reflecting pool with an installation entitled “One Sun/34 Moons” by Walter De Maria, containing 34 glass “oculi” which allow light to enter the two-level below-grade parking garage. BNIM was selected to serve as Architect of Record with Design Architect Steven Holl on this major expansion.

Impact + Innovation

The Bloch Building’s lenses house gallery space that dots the landscape and responds to the undulating topography outside. The expansion is the first major addition to this cultural institution and Beaux-Arts style structure since it opened in 1933. The Bloch Building is considered a “feather” to the original museum’s “stone.” Moving through the addition, visitors experience a flow between light, art, architecture and landscape. The channel and laminated glass provide diffused natural light into the galleries, and the clear glass offers visitors open views of the Sculpture Park at various points in the galleries and halls. At the heart of the addition’s lenses is a structural concept merged with a light and air distributor concept: “Breathing T’s” transport light down into the galleries along their curved undersides while carrying the glass in suspension and providing a location for HVAC ducts. The double-glass cavities of the lenses gather sun-heated air in winter or exhaust it in summer. Optimum light levels for all types of art or media installations and seasonal flexibility requirements are ensured through the use of computer-controlled screens and of special translucent insulating material embedded in the glass cavities.

The Bloch Building

People

Team

  • Casey Cassias
  • Greg Sheldon
  • Hans Nettelblad
  • Craig Scranton
  • Sarah Hirsch
  • Matthew Porreca
  • Todd Cowger
  • Kristin Long
  • Rick Schladweiler
  • Kathy Achelpohl
  • John Hotchkiss
  • Christopher Claus
  • Kathleen Ayers
  • Erik Heitman
  • Therese Allinder
  • Bob James
  • Monita Ireland
  • Randal Endecott
  • Amy Slattery
  • Christopher Mitchell
  • Aralia Sendejas
  • JuliÄ™ Miller
  • Devan Case
  • Tobias Hathorn
  • Thad Miguez
  • Cale Doornbos
  • Anikumar Panchal
  • James Schuessler
  • Mike Stoffel
  • Clint Blew
  • Thompson Nelson
  • Mia Lechlitner
  • Gary Jarvis
  • Gregory Goss

Client

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Collaborators

Steven Holl Architects

The Bloch Building
The Bloch Building

Awards

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentiaria
Frontiers of Knowledge Award for the Arts
2009

ULI Kansas City
Development of Distinction
2008

IES New York City Section
Lumen Award, Exterior Lighting
2008

Architectural Lighting Magazine
AL Light and Architecture Design Awards – Outstanding Achievement Award
2008

American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Honor Award, Architecture
2008

American Architecture Awards
Best New Building Design
2008

Community Christian Church
Community Treasure Award
2007

Allied Arts and Craftsmanship, Board Formed Concrete, Glass, Handrails, Plaster, Visitors Desk, Coat
Honor Award
2007

AIA Kansas City
Honor Award
2007

AIA Kansas
Honor Award, Renovation
2007

AIA Kansas
Honor Award, Architecture
2007

AIA Central States Region
Award of Excellence
2007

AIA Kansas City
Allied Arts and Craftsmanship Awards – Honor Award, One Sun/34 Moons
2005

International Parking Institute
Award of Excellence, Honorable Mention
2004

The Bloch Building

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