Media & Immersive eXperience Center

Design Strategy

Voted “Best Public Building 2008” by Southwest Contractor Magazine, Heard Museum North’s new home allows for a expanded programs and larger exhibits with additional square footage and access to a natural wash, serving as an interpretive garden. The design negates the regularity of retail suites in favour of a large open floor plan that contains the gallery in an enclosed “jewel box” allowing the visitor to transition from commercial environment into a zone of quiet reflection and connection to the art. The “jewel box”, clad in reclaimed redwood, gives an element of warmth, yet separation from the exposed steel and glass of the primary structure. The retail space to folds seamlessly into the gallery and adjacent café – in response to the ambitious and overlapping program desired by both patrons and curators alike. The result is a bold, declarative form, complete with “museum” super graphics along the entrance elevation and an abundance of natural light in and around the public gathering areas.