Ennead Architects
Natural History Museum of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
“The influence of Utah’s cultural landscape, the specific impact of the site and environmental imperatives and the influence of the Museum’s institutional mission became the basis for the creation of a definitive architectural identity.”
Todd Schliemann, Design Partner
The site, located in the foothills of the Wasatch Range, occupies a prominent place at the edge of the City and the University of Utah campus.
The Museum rests on a series of terraces that step up the hill and lay along the contours of the site with minimal disruption to the adjacent natural landscape; its powerful jagged profile references the mountains beyond.
Photo ©Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects
The building is conceived as an abstract extension and transformation of the land: its formal and material qualities derive from the region's natural landscape of rock, soil, minerals and vegetation. Further reinforcing the essential continuity of nature and human experience is the landscape design strategy, which, in blurring the distinction between natural vegetation and topography and intentional interventions, places humans at the nexus of environmental stewardship.
The site offers breathtaking views of the Great Salt Lake, the Oquirrhs mountain range, Kennecott copper mines, Mount Olympus and Salt Lake City.
Photo ©Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects
A voluminous central public space – the Canyon – divides the building programmatically into an empirical (north) wing and an interpretive (south) wing and provides access to both. Bridges and vertical circulation organize the visitor sequence; views south across the basin expands the experience; shafts of sunlight penetrate the apex, suffusing the space with natural light; and a grand vertical scale uplifts and inspires.
Photo ©Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects
Photo ©Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects
Photo ©Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects
Spaces in the north wing support formal scientific exploration and an objective understanding of our world; these include research laboratories, conservation labs, collection storage and administration. The south wing houses exhibits, whose narratives interpret the Museum’s extraordinary collections and guide the public through an exploration of the delicate balance of life on earth and its natural history.
The material quality of the building’s exterior roots it in the landscape by recalling Utah’s geological and mineralogical history and expressing the design as natural form. At its base, board-formed concrete makes the transition from the earth to the manmade. Copper panels constitute the skin of the building, extending from the building’s volume at angles that reference the geophysical processes that created the metal. Accent panels of copper-zinc alloy enhance the subtle variegation of the copper’s natural patina. The standing seam copper facade is articulated in horizontal bands of various heights to emulate geological stratification on the building skin.
Photo ©Jeff Goldberg/Esto for Ennead Architects
Photo ©Ben Lowry courtesy Natural History Museum of Utah
Photo: ©Stuart Ruckman Natural History Museum of Utah
The building provides much-needed space to preserve, study and interpret the Museum’s extraordinary collection of artifacts, and its exhibits explore and articulate natural history and the delicate balance of life on earth. The building houses advanced research facilities, supporting both undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Utah.
Intended to play a seminal role in enhancing the public’s understanding of the earth’s resources and systems as well as be a model for responsible and environmentally sensitive development, the Museum is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.
Drawing courtesy Ennead Architects
Site Plan
Drawing courtesy Ennead Architects
Level One Plan
Drawing courtesy Ennead Architects
Level Two Plan
Drawing courtesy Ennead Architects
Level Five Plan Plan
Drawing courtesy Ennead Architects
Section Canyon North Wall
Site area: the 17 acres
Gross building area: 163,000 square feet
Completed: 2011
Client: Natural History Museum of Utah
Design Architect: Ennead Architects
Design Partner: Todd Schliemann FAIA
Management Partner: Don Weinreich AIA, LEED AP
Project Designers: Thomas Wong AIA, Alex O’Briant AIA
Project Architects:
John Majewski AIA, Megan Miller AIA, LEED AP
Interiors Charmian Place: Katharine Huber AIA
Project Team:
Joshua Frankel AIA
Aileen Iverson
Kyo-Young Jin
Apichat Leungchaikul
Thomas Newman
Jarrett Pelletier AIA
Architect of Record: GSBS Architects
Principal-in-Charge: David Brems FAIA, LEED AP
Project Manager: John Branson AIA, LEED AP
Project Architect: Valerie Nagasawa AIA
Interiors:
Stephanie DeMott IIDA
Stacy Butcher LEED AP
Beccah Hardman
Project Team:
Clio Miller AIA
LEED AP
Jesse Allen AIA LEED AP
Bill Cordray AIA
Jennifer Still AIA
Eduardo De Roda
Felissia Ludwig
Cathy Davison
Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership) arcspace features.
February 6, 2012
