BIG architects: kimball art center

‘kimball art center’ by BIG in park city, utah all images courtesy BIG

internationally-recognized architecture practice bjarke ingels group has completed a design proposal of the new kimball art center in park city, utah, USA. drawing from the recent urban development of the city, the context of the site, and the area’s mining heritage, the project seeks to present through proportions and materiality the history of park city.

aerial view

within context

situated on the intersection of two high-traffic streets – main street and heber avenue – the new cultural facility is a stacked design that in essence provides two galleries in one structure: the building’s footprint is arranged to meet the city’s grid (parallel to main street) while the top gallery aligns itself with the diagonally-running heber avenue. the resulting form is a building that pivots around to have two orientations. rising over 24 meters – the same height at which the historical landmark ‘coalition building’ stood adjacent to the site – the art center achieves a visually distinct identity at the gateway to the city.

street view during winter

built using heavy timber, the construction method and material references the city’s coal mining history: instead of stacking the wood to create a retaining wall as they did within the mines, the residential houses inverted this technique and applied it to the outside of the house as the primary structure. the new kimball art center takes this building method to create a ‘highly-evolved log cabin’. the twisting form carves out the route of the circulation resulting in a continuous spiral staircase that runs embedded into the timber facade.

interior atrium

ground floor lobby

main staircase

sky gallery

office

night view

(left) existing kimball art center – oriented towards park ave (right) two new galleries

(upper left) street gallery – oriented to park city’s street grid and main street (upper right) sky gallery – oriented to heber avenue, the gateway to park city (lower left) unified twist (lower right) program – between the two galleries are administration and restaurant functions; the existing building houses the education program and exhibition support functions

underground floor – exhibition, support

ground floor – lobby, assembly, education

second floor – restaurant

third floor – administration

fourth floor – exhibition

roof terrace

model view at night

project info:

client: kimball art center size: 2,800 m2

partner in charge: bjarke ingels project leader: leon rost team: terrence chew, suemin jeon, chris falla, andreia teixeira, ho kyung lee collaborators: nexus architects, dunn associates, urn boerum & frank associates, and envision engineering