BIG's revised design for kimball art center in park city, utah

BIG’s revised design for kimball art center in park city, utah
all images courtesy of BIG

after winning the bid in 2011 to design the kimball art center in park city, utah, BIG architects’ selected proposal sparked some concern amongst the local community, so the international firm went back to the drawing board to address those issues. the revised scheme now maximizes the possibilities for public art within the confines of the zoning envelope and the sloping topography of main street. the resultant urban form is essentially a rectangular volume skewed to unite the straight angles of the existing kimball and the organic lines of the mountain slopes. as architecture, the new building is like the lovechild of the modern volumes of the existing structure and the sloping roofs of the traditional mountain chalets. the roof transition from sloped to straight naturally creates a parabolic surface that will be a defining feature for the exterior as well as the interior of the new museum.

the façade is conceived as white architectural concrete, cast in place with interlocking wood formwork like a log cabin. the concrete material resembles the historical architecture of kimball’s converted garage, while incorporating the texture and tectonics of the local wood structures.

see designboom’s initial coverage of BIG architect’s revised design when it was first unveiled here.

the sloped front edges combined with flat back edges naturally creates a parabolic roof form

gallery spaces are exposed for public view from the exterior

the extension adds over 9,000 square feet of exhibition area to the museum

 upper level galleries provide plentiful daylight

 the sloping front facades open to allow views into the gallery spaces

the museum is positioned at a prominent street corner

the building’s form blends the form of the existing kimball with the sloping nature of typical mountain chalets

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project info:

location: park city, utah, united states
size: 3,000 sqm (32,300 sqft)
architect: bjarke ingles group
partner in charge: bjarke ingels, thomas christoffersen
project leader: leon rost
team: andreia silva teixeira mendes, beat schenk, chris falla, david spittler, kiley feickert, natalie kwee, romea muryn, suemin jeon, terrence chew