New York practice Thomas Phifer and Partners have unveiled their design for the new 100,000 square foot North Wing expansion at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. The state of the art, “energy smart” building will provide the ideal interior environment for preserving the Museum’s unparalleled collection of glass art through natural lighting, an intelligent building envelope and sophisticated temperature and air quality controls. The $64 million North Wing is scheduled for completion in 2014.
Continue after the break to learn more about the North Wing expansion.
The expansion will feature natural daylight using a sophisticated light-metering system. Diffused skylights provide a majority of the lighting required to view the art. Electric track lighting is programmed to complement and spotlight the art by adjusting to changes in exterior natural light levels. Photocells located on the roof of the building work with the electric track lighting controls to blend the daylight and electric light levels in order to optimize energy consumption during all hours of operation.
Contemporary gallery façade will be made of aluminum, with perpendicular blades of ultra-thin specialty glass. Windows and skylights that punctuate the façade will be double glazed insulated glass uses high performance low-E (low emissivity) coating to minimize heat gain. An additional UV filtering coating of the glass further protects the art from damaging ultraviolet rays.
“For us, learning the way light and glass work together has been truly rewarding. Glass is performance art…from its fluidity to the way it scatters light in space. We are making spaces to put people in touch with the magic of glass,” Phifer said.
The climate controlled environment controls interior temperature and humidity while carefully eliminating dust and other polluting agents from the museum environment.
Included in the expansion will be a 26,000 square feet of gallery space. This is the largest space anywhere dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art in glass.
Environmentally Sustainable Design Elements:
- Insulated double glazed windows with high performance, low-E coating to reduce heat gain
- Daytime illumination provided by natural light
- Daylight harvesting system
- Carbon dioxide monitors control volume of outside air intake
- Enthalpy wheel recovers heat from building exhaust
- VAV controls track occupancy and system performance to reduce energy consumption
- Water economizer uses cooling towers instead of chillers to produce cooling in winter for pumps
- Multiple valves on cooling coils reduce energy required for dehumidification
- Commissioning of building systems maximizes equipment efficiency
- Facility personnel training improves long-term maintenance and operation
- Design of storm water retention reduces run-off and erosion
- Site lighting is designed to meet Dark Sky standards
