Project Details
- Project Name
- Mass MoCA Building 6
- Location
- MA
- Architect
- Bruner/Cott & Associates
- Project Types
- Cultural
- Project Scope
- Adaptive Reuse
- Size
- 130,000 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2017
- Awards
- 2011 Boston Society of Architects
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- Built
- Cost
- $25,000,000
This article appeared in the June 2020 issue of ARCHITECT.
Deep in the heart of New England’s Berkshire Hills, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) showcases some of the boldest and most challenging work of our time in a setting far removed from the typical exhibition environment. Its home since 1999 has been the Arnold Print Works complex, a defunct factory in the town of North Adams. Boston-based Bruner/Cott & Associates has driven the adaptive reuse of the 20-building industrial campus into a world-class arts facility in several phases over the last 20 years. But the recent transformation of Building 6
encapsulates the intrepid spirit of the whole institution in a single, sprawling interior.
The existing wedge-shaped structure marks the westernmost point of the campus, and features three floors totaling 130,000 square feet of exhibition space, all replete with original exposed-brick walls, gracious windows, and slender cast-iron columns. Using these elements as a starting point, Bruner/Cott wove a design that reimagines the building for its new role: At its heart, an airy, skylight-topped corridor serves as a spine, guiding visitors from gallery to gallery, each one slightly different in plan in order to foster different kinds of artistic encounters.
Museumgoers enjoy views out to the waterways that surround the building while they explore galleries and special-purpose rooms inside, including a double-height lounge, an ingeniously configured James Turrell installation, and a lightbulb-filled hallway from artist Spencer Finch that has become an Instagram sensation. Inviting, easily navigable, yet preserving the old building’s rough and rustic grandeur in a scheme that also preserves its embodied carbon, Building 6’s interior is as impressive as the art, without ever upstaging it.
Project Credits
Project: MASS MoCA Building 6, Page TKT
Location: North Adams, Mass.
Client: MASS MoCA
Architect: Bruner/Cott Architects, Boston . Simeon Bruner, Henry Moss, AIA, Jason Forney, FAIA (principals); Aoife Morris, AIA, George Gard, AIA, Stephanie Power, AIA, Lena Kozloski, AIA, Nat Crosby (project team)
Structural Engineer: Arup
MP Engineer: Petersen Engineering
Electrical Engineer: R.W. Sullivan
Fire Protection (campus): Fire Protection Services
Civil Engineer: Hill Engineering
Environmental Consultant: GZA GeoEnvironmental
Construction Manager: Gilbane Building Co.
Lighting Designer: Lumen Studios
Acoustics: Acentech
Code and Fire Protection: Cosentini Associates
Cost Estimating: Daedalus Projects
Food Service: Colburn & Guyette
Specifications: Kalin Associates
Hardware: Assa Abloy
Structural Wood Testing: Wood Advisory Services
Building Scan: Existing Conditions Survey
Environmental Graphics: OverUnder
Size: 130,000 square feet
Cost: $33 million
Materials and Sources
Adhesives/Coatings/Sealants: Bona Mega, Bona Sport Seal 350 Sealer, Bona Traffic with Universal Hardener
Doors: Won-Door (Fireguard door); Cornell (rolling M100 FireGuard Closing Systems)
Exterior Wall Systems: Salvaged existing brick
Elevator: Thyssenkrupp Endura Elevator
Flooring: Salvaged original wood flooring
Glass: Imperial Glass Structures (lean-to custom skylight)
HVAC: Mitsubishi Electric City Multi VRF Mechanical Unit
Masonry/Stone: Salvaged existing brick
Metal: Eaton B-Line Non-Ventilated Trough Metal Cable Tray
Roofing: Berridge Manufacturing Co. Victorian Shingles
Windows: Wausau Window and Wall Systems (custom aluminum windows; Series 8300 system)
Building 6 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) opened on May 28, 2017.
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
With the completion of Phase III, MASS MoCA has is become one of the largest contemporary art museums in the country.
Two buildings with a combined 130,000 square feet of undeveloped space create exhibit areas for video, film, and multi-media exhibits as well as events, workshops, and storage. The design continues Mass MoCA’s “museum within the museum” concept by collaborating with artists, foundations and collectors. One collection focuses on 10 pieces by James Turrell. Jenny Holzer exhibits her projections in a specially designed gallery, while Laurie Anderson has an active archive and recording studio. Major works by Louise Bourgeois and Robert Rauschenberg, together with supportive material, are on long term loan through their foundations. Each collection is curated by its author to have its own distinct character. MASS MoCA curates the remaining space, with places for changing installation pieces by emerging artists such as Sarah Oppenheimer.
Phase III is the realization of a 25-year master plan and completes the site circulation plan, encouraging multiple ways to explore the MASS MoCA campus. This phase includes a two-story event space and greenroom support for major music festivals.
With a footprint that encompasses nearly a third of the North Adams business district, the museum is central to the economic revival of the city, and its continued expansion is evidence of the power of its impact on the community. Phase III also continues to improve connections between MASS MoCA and the town of North Adams. Development of the West Main Street access route enhances the museum’s access to the downtown business district, and campus bike paths link the museum to a regional pathway initiative.
