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Architects: Frederick Fisher and Partners
- Area: 75000 ft²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Undine Pröhl, Benny Chan
Text description provided by the architects. The NHM Commons project is the Museum's new wing and a community hub, comprising approximately 75,000 square feet of new construction, renovated space, and landscaping on the west end of the Museum that faces Exposition Park and the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. NHM Commons will serve as both a destination and a gateway to the Museum and builds on NHM's unique outside-inside experience. It expands the existing main south entrance and is designed to offer an inviting, transparent "front porch" to the NHM campus, create a free welcome center, provide a new flexible theater and multipurpose space, increase exhibition spaces, and expand NHM's broad-based community programming. The Welcome Center provides orientation, ticketing, close-up views of a new sauropod dinosaur skeleton named Gnatalie, a mural by Barbara Carrasco, and views into the Park. In addition to linking the entrance plaza, new café, welcome center, and theater with the existing museum, NHM Commons enhances connections with institutions across Exposition Park.
Welcoming exterior, the LA County Community Plaza will feature abundant native landscaping that will provide new green spaces. Outdoor elements include the Rose Hills Amphitheater, the Ahmanson Foundation Promenade, which features pathways to the entrance and through the park, a sustainable garden including two new oak trees, interpretative signage, and outdoor furnishings on the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Terrace adjacent to the cafe.
New glass façade on the museum's southwest end, creating transparent views into the Wallis Annenberg Lobby, new Commons Theater, and Judith Perlstien Welcome Center, including a peek of Gnatalie The Green Dinosaur. No-ticket-required *5,250 square-foot Judith Perlstein Welcome Center, serving as both a destination and a gateway to the Museum, featuring: Gnatalie "The Green Dinosaur" - 75-ft-long sauropod installation - a recently-discovered species of sauropod (long-necked dinosaur) with green bones, mounted and presented for the first time and free to the public; Barbara Carrasco's landmark 1981 mural, L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective, which portrays the city's history through a series of vignettes woven into the flowing hair of la Reina de Los Ángeles (the queen of Los Angeles); Temporary exhibition spaces; Seating with park views; Guest and member services.
Commons Theater, a dynamic multi-purpose theater space that is equipped with advanced technical and audiovisual capabilities, makes way for expanded curated and co-created programming developed in partnership with the Commons Advisory Coalition, bringing greater capacity for robust family, youth, and adult programs, including films, performances, scientific and cultural discussions and dialogues, community collaborations, signature festivals, and more. An additional space for rotating exhibits, the W.M. Keck Theater Gallery. A new cafe destination on the Community Plaza with South LA Cafe, featuring grab n' go food items and indoor/outdoor seating. Retail experience focused on LA artisans, exhibition highlights, and NHM favorites.
The existing building has been made more resilient as a result of the reconfiguration of the Welcome Center and South Entry along with upgrades to building systems. The addition has a number of significant sustainable elements leading to achieving LEED Gold certification. The new mechanical system is ombustion-free, greatly minimizing the carbon footprint of the addition. The building skin is a high-performance envelope that helps to minimize heat gain/loss and, ultimately, energy consumption, while providing abundant natural light in the public spaces. The selection of healthy building materials eliminates the use of hazards and dangers to workers during the fabrication and installation of those materials.
The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) includes the Natural History Museum, La Brea Tar Pits, and the William S. Hart Museum. They operate under the collective vision to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds. The museums hold one of the world's most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history, more than 35 million objects. Using these collections for groundbreaking scientific and historical research, the museums also incorporate them into on- and offsite nature and culture exploration in L.A. neighborhoods, and a slate of community science programs, creating indoor-outdoor visitor experiences that explore the past, present, and future.
