ART MUSEUM

Philadelphia Museum of Art

In 2021, the Philadelphia Museum of Art unveiled “the culmination of two decades of planning, design, and construction: a project by the celebrated architect Frank Gehry that represents a major milestone in the renovation, reorganization, and interior expansion of the museum’s landmark 1928 building.” The Core Project delivered renewed infrastructure and nearly 90,000 square feet of reimagined and newly created space within the main building.

In 2022, following the arrival of Director and CEO Sasha Suda, AK Cultural Planning was engaged to conduct a strategic assessment of PMA facilities. Teaming with owner’s representative MAASS and cost estimators at Directional Logic, we evaluated current and potential space use, capital planning projects, and deferred maintenance. This expansive study crafted an integrated long-term view of the campus as well as offsite collection storage and historic houses, linking priorities back to an institutional growth strategy.

Key tasks included: Scan of six properties owned or controlled by PMA to articulate high-level issues and opportunities; strategic implications and preliminary options for managing risk and setting priorities, including modes of activating additional space to serve evolving brand and goals; and a process to advance planning and implementation of priority projects, including costing, planning/phasing, and construction.

A key recommendation of the Facilities Assessment was to develop the North Wing into a Learning and Engagement Center. AKCP was further retained to lead visioning, market analysis, stakeholder engagement, program design, space planning, and financial projections for the future center. A nationally unique concept to create a place of “Inspiration, Inclusion, and Institutional Transformation” has been embraced by the Board, staff, and partners, and is currently being designed.