New York, NY (April 15, 2009) – On Tuesday, April 14, 2009, the Smithsonian Institute awarded the Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup team the design for the National Museum of African American History and Culture – tentatively scheduled to open on the National Mall in Washington in 2015. The Museum’s mission is to tell the African American story from the African origins, through slavery and emancipation, to politics, music, sports and spirituality.
The team, led by the Freelon Group, also includes architecture firms Adjaye Associates, Davis Brody Bond and SmithGroup, with WSP Flack + Kurtz providing all MEP/FP engineering services. The $500 million project will sit on a 15-acre site, located between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History.
"It is very exciting for WSP Flack + Kurtz to work with Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup on this important building at this moment in history,” says Robert Gracilieri, PE executive vice president and project executive. “The experience from the very beginning of the collaboration has been one of significance, weight and joy.”
Modeled after an African headdress, the square building features an open first floor that resembles a porch, topped by two superstructures shaped like crowns. On top of the crowns, which hold most of the exhibition space, will be a roof garden. Grey water reclamation will drive MEP and irrigation systems, while rain water will be harvested for the roof garden.
WSP F+K will be evaluating a number of creative engineering approaches that include the use of: high efficiency electric drive chillers with variable drive controls; geothermal heating and cooling systems; natural ventilation for spaces that do not require close temperature/humidity control; radiant floor cooling/heating with mass air displacement; underfloor air distribution system where ceilings are high; chilled beam heating/cooling; and zoning of the HVAC systems.
“We are looking forward to putting our creativity to the test,” adds Gracilieri. “Our goal is to design practical, environmentally friendly building systems.”
The four-story structure takes full advantage of the iconic sights along the Mall, providing visitors several overlooks. The base of the building will be built with stone, while the crown will be constructed out of bronze in a porous manner to allow natural light into the structure. The entrances are on Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive, on the Mall side, bringing all visitors into the open first floor. The Constitution Avenue side has a canal, which represents the Washington Channel, a location where slaves and supplies were transported.
The design process is scheduled to take three years, with construction expected to begin in 2012.
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Photo credit:
Architect: Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup
Illustration: Imaging Atelier