LeMay America’s
Car Museum maintains over 3,000 cars in its collection making it one of the
largest automobile museums in the world.
Close to a decade ago, the Museum’s board of directors initiated a
process to consolidate the entire collection at one location. The project site, adjacent to the Tacoma
Dome, was donated by the city of Tacoma for the sole purpose of building the
LeMay Museum. Completed June of 2012,
this museum represents the first phase of a multi-phase masterplan. The Museum’s galleries are purpose-built to
efficiently house a rotating collection of 450 cars. In addition to the gallery spaces, the
museum’s 185,000sf program includes administration space for the LeMay
foundation, a banquet room, lecture halls, gift shop, café and a vehicle
maintenance center. Adjacent to the
Museum is a 2.7 acre showfield designed for hosting car collector events held
throughout the year.
One of the primary
requirements for this first phase was to construct the museum close to $100 a
square feet. This challenge was met through the extensive use of
repetitive structural glu-lam members. The main entry lobby is on average
over 110 feet in width and 300 feet in length. The shape of the structure,
which varies in width from 90 feet to over 110 feet and in height between 25
feet and 45 feet, was developed from one glue laminated beam jig and trimmed at
different lengths. This achieved an incredible cost savings, and yet allowed
the design to be very organic. Additionally, the use of glue laminated structures
also allowed for the elimination of any fire proofing that is normally
associated with structures of this size.
Central to the
design of the Museum are the ramp galleries built to a slope greater than
20:1. These gently sloped galleries
allow patrons to have a contiguous experience without the interruption of using
stairs or elevators. A circuitous path
of travel, patrons can experience the entire museum in one continuous walk
through. Vehicles and exhibits can be
placed level to the slope increasing the flexibility and efficiency of the
exhibition spaces. Landings at each end
of the museum serve as transitional nodes between the ramp galleries and the
storage galleries. The storage gallery
on the B3 level acts a bridge to a congruent set of ramps directing patrons
back to the main gallery.
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