High Museum Expansion

To align with the existing structure’s scale, the project was divided into three distinct buildings: the Wieland Pavilion, the Anne Cox Chambers Wing, and an administrative services center, forming a cohesive cultural campus. At its core is “Sifly Piazza,” a pedestrian-only square nestled between the Woodruff Arts Center, Meier’s High Museum, and the new buildings. This central space fosters community interaction, softening the museum’s institutional presence.

The irregular, trapezoidal site is bordered by 16th Street, Peachtree Street (providing access to Meier’s Stent Family Wing), 15th Street (facing the Woodruff Arts Center), and Lombard Way, where the main entrance was relocated during expansion. The new buildings, housing galleries, offices, restaurants, cafés, and bookshops, face the piazza and are visually linked by a unifying glass roof, enhancing connectivity.

A defining theme of the project was unifying the roof and facade design, achieved by creating continuity between the two elements. The vertical facade features modular aluminum panels that curve at roof height to connect with skylights, harnessing natural light. The ceiling is composed of GFRG (Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum) modules, closed on lower floors and perforated on the top floor, allowing sunlight to filter through nearly 1,000 skylights. These skylights are topped with protective north-facing, funnel-shaped elements that regulate light intake. Standard 1.2-meter roof modules extend vertically on the facade, covered with glass "ribbons" on the first floor and aluminum on the upper floors, seamlessly integrating with the metallic surfaces of the Stent Family Wing.