Denver Art Museum

Jun 30

Revitalization and Expansion of a Historic Building

Founded in 1923, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an anchor in the cultural ecosystem of Denver and the Rocky Mountain region. Known internationally for its collections of art from the Americas as well as for its strategies for engaging visitors of all ages, the DAM serves a broad spectrum of audience throughout its campus. The DAM is the primary encyclopedic art museum in the state and a destination for major traveling exhibitions from around the world, and serves an estimated 650,000 visitors each year and is home to more than 70,000 art objects.

The DAM campus is comprised of several notable works of exuberant architecture: a 7-story, museum tower designed by the Italian Architect Gio Ponti and completed in 1971; a bold angular temporary exhibition building designed by Daniel Libeskind (2007); a Michael Graves public library and a private museum by Allied Works.

Client: Denver Art Museum
Location: Denver, CO
Year: 2016-2021
Status: Built
The American Architecture Award | The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture and Design | 2022
Design Award of Excellence | AIA Colorado | 2022
Merit Award | AIA New England | 2022
Downtown Denver Award | Downtown Denver Partnership | 2022
Community Preservation Award | Historic Denver | 2022
Merit Award, Best Projects: Cultural/Worship | ENR Mountain States | 2020
Best Jumbo Glass Project | Glass Magazine Awards | 2019
Lewis, Michael J. “The Best Architecture of 2021: Constraints That Set Creativity Free.” The Wall Street Journal. December 15, 2021.
Zeiger, Mimi. “The Denver Art Museum Gets a Long-Needed Refresh.” Metropolis. November 10, 2021.
Waddoups, Ryan. “A Thoughtful Update to Gio Ponti’s Denver Art Museum.” SURFACE. September 21, 2021.
Silvetti, Jorge. “The Ponti Question.” The Lanny and Sharon Martin Building (2021): 81-100.
Silvetti, Jorge. “Some Thoughts About Our Design Process in the Addition and Renovations of the Denver Art Museum.” Oz, Style, vol 42 (2020): 30-35.
Hill, David. “The Rebirth of Gio Ponti’s Denver Art Museum Tower.” Architect. August 12, 2021.
Gregerson, John. “Glass Welcome Center Becomes Denver Art Museum’s New ‘Front Door’.” ENR Mountain States. August 19, 2019.
Marani, Matthew. “The Denver Art Museum Announces Itself with Scalloped Glass Panels.” The Architects Newspaper. July 31, 2019.
Fazzare, Elizabeth. “Denver Art Museum Breaks Ground on Gio Ponti Building Renovation.” Newsroom. Architectural Digest, January 12, 2018.

Welcome Center

These buildings, each incredible in their own right, are wanting for a strategic unification that creates a real civic place, clear orientation and a coherent experience of the entire museum. With this in mind we have designed a Welcome Center at the heart of the campus that provides ticketing and amenities at the ground floor with access to all wings of the museum. On the second floor of the Welcome Center is an immense grand events space seeming to hover above the grounds; 25' high lites of glass make this a veritable living room in the city.

Interiors

Energy Performance

In addition to the Welcome Center we are designing a major renovation and enhancement to the Gio Ponti towers and the site. We are upgrading the energy performance of the towers, which includes replacing all exterior insulated walls from the inside so as not to disturb the original glass tile façades. We are also transforming spaces for learning and engagement, building on their pioneering efforts in arts education to enhance quality and reach, celebrating and unlocking human potential through the arts.