The Denver Art Museum (DAM) Martin Building Revitalization and Expansion project reinvigorates DAM’s 1970s Gio Ponti-designed tower which is home to the museum’s education center and permanent collection, increases facility capacity to accommodate expanded outreach and education programs, and adds an entry and special functions pavilion – the Sie Welcome Center - to unify the Museum’s campus and be the signature gateway to the city’s art district.
Cantilevering over the Sie’s main museum entrance and lobby spaces, the 13,000 sq.ft. second-level Sturm Grand Pavilion’s deliberately simple form commemorates the original Ponti- planned (but unbuilt) elliptical auditorium. Its fully-glazed façade expresses DAM’s mission to be welcoming to all segments of the community, and is an effective foil to the surrounding collection of architecturally eclectic buildings.
In conceiving the Sturm’s façade, the design team considered views, openness, context, available technology and budget; the final “Fluted Glass” concept was selected as it best exemplifies and reinterprets Ponti’s original design vocabulary of geometries and faceted surfaces. Key design goals included transparency and simplicity, minimal visible metal components, and the use of glass as a structural element to support the facade and transfer loads to the building structure.
An integrated design-assist team was assembled to support the design process as it progressed to focus on interfaces at the roof and soffit: developing thin support profiles in the form of narrow vertical panel sealant joints, integration of perimeter heating and ventilation, ¬¬and cantilevered floor grille details to enable the 25-ft tall, full-height glazing panels to float past the floor line uninterrupted.
Tabletop mockups were used to study joint configurations, perimeter frit, sealant colors, and glass selection. A full performance mockup facilitated testing of the structural system design, lateral movement capability, and weather-resistance; it also provided invaluable insight into the layout, erection and installation of the system.
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