The quirky Mercer Museum, a National Historic Landmark, is known for its unique concrete construction and its fabulous collection of objets d’art and historical artifacts. The museum needed an expansion that would create several important new spaces: a changing exhibition gallery to keep attracting visitors along with accompanying loading dock and storage; an accessible primary entry lobby with modern amenities like a gift shop; and spaces for visitor orientation and engagement, like a multi-purpose classroom. A primary concern was keeping the massing of the addition low enough to not obscure important views of the historic building.

Windows and large skylights in the new grand entry hall allow immediate views of the original museum, while the board-formed poured-in-place concrete structure and the white stained concrete floors relate to the original construction methodologies in a modern way. The great hall also serves as popular venue for events like fundraisers, wedding receptions, and community events. A semi-private paved terrace is a focal point at end of the hall and extends the events to the outside.

Site work included pedestrian and vehicular access, drop-off, and expanded bus & car parking , and sustainable stormwater management like a green roof, pervious paving, and a rain garden.

PUBLICATIONS

• "Changing Skyline: Mercer Museum Adds Space with a Well-Crafted Concrete Addition" by Inga Saffron. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 June 2011.
• Museum Design: Architecture, Culture, Geographic Environment. Sendpoints Publishing: Hong Kong, 2015.
• “Debuts: The Mercer Museum, New Wing.” Museum, September/October 2011.