Heneghan Peng Architects and WXY Architecture have co-led a renovation of the Storm King Art Center in Upstate New York, adding a serpentine restroom pavilion and fabrication building. This project marks the first major renovation to the grounds in 65 years.
The new pavilions, including a curved restroom facility and covered area, are located around an existing stone building used for ticketing. The structures are unified by the use of light-colored wood cladding, which will grey over time, and concrete. They are also powered by electricity and incorporate sustainable strategies, such as passive cooling and rooftop solar arrays.
“We began by considering the entry experience, reinterpreting what was already there by removing extra roads, adding three new pavilions to frame the existing stone house, and reimagining the shutters, porches, and outdoor sink that form the first view of the Art Center,” said Claire Weisz, Principal, WXY Architecture. “The choice to use native stone and modified fast-growth wood at the visitor entrance reflects the site โ its land, art, and environmental legacy.”
The restroom facility features large operable shutters that open to the outdoors for cooling, and a grey water system that circulates sink water to flush toilets. The David R Collens Building for Conservation, Fabrication, and Maintenance is clad in black siding and features large bays for fabrication, as well as interior workspaces.
The project also included converting former parking lots into five acres of landscape for additional programming and planting 650 new trees. The opening coincides with large-scale temporary landscape installations by artists Kevin Beasley, Sonia Gomes, and Dionne Lee.
