Museum of Fine Arts

At Buro Happold we are dedicated to bringing cultural spaces to life. We bring together a commitment to enhance the visitor experience with the technical knowledge to deliver stunning buildings. At the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)  in Boston, the design team integrated the existing historical building of 1870 with new contemporary structures to achieve the ultimate layout and gallery space accommodating over one million visitors annually. MFA is an RIBA international award winning building for 2011. 

With visitor numbers increasing the existing facilities at the museum were under pressure to cope. Additionally there was a requirement to create more space to display exhibitions, accommodate new meeting areas and incorporate a museum shop. A significant challenge for the team was to create an enclosed space within the museum courtyard that was flooded with daylight.

A key element in the design is the installation of a freestanding glazed structure housing the new Art of the Americas Wing. Arranged over four floors with 53 galleries, the new wing significantly increases the museum’s exhibition space.  Where the new wing meets the existing building it partly encloses an existing outside space to create a stunning glazed courtyard at the heart of the museum, providing a meeting space for visitors.

Combining local knowledge with extensive technical experience was vital in designing the glass roof for the naturally lit and ventilated glazed courtyard.  With an average annual snowfall of approximately 42 inches in Boston, there was a risk that the roof would be obscured, preventing enough light from entering the exhibition space. The sloping glass is laid in a zigzag pattern, with heated gutting to melt the snow and allowing it to drain away via a syphonic draining system.

Following its opening in November 2010, the new wing at Boston Museum of Fine Arts offers visitors access an additional 5,000 works from its American collections including works from North, Central and South America over 3000 years. The arrangement of the spaces allows for the collections to be arranged chronologically, so visitors can travel through time as they make their way to the top levels of the new wing.

• Historical museum transformed to include new Art of the Americas Wing
• Courtyard enclosed to create stunning new space
• New glass courtyard measures 133,491 square feet
• Innovative roof design allows light to flood into gallery space
• Winner of RIBA international awards 2011