Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Boston, MA
Stuart-Lynn Company, working with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, provided full service cost estimating for all phases of the extensive restoration and expansion of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA. The museum accommodates over 200,000 visitors per year, far more than its original capacity, and the project was intended to alleviate the pressures of increased public access while preserving and protecting the historic Palace building and the collection from escalating wear and tear. The project, whose four distinct pavilions float above the museums existing first floor, encompassed renovations to the original building as well as an adjacent new building designed to house expanded visitor services. Much of this work was concentrated in basement levels housing mechanical and back-of-house functions. Featured in the museum is the newly build Calderwood Hall. This flexible use, 300-seat performance hall was designed by Nagata Acoustics. The new building includes: a new entrance with a fully transparent first floor; a dedicated and naturally lit Special Exhibition gallery; a studio-classroom for the museum’s education and family programs, state-of-the-art conservation labs, accommodations and work-space for Artists-in-Residence, working greenhouses, administrative offices, additional garden space accessible to visitors, as well as a new Museum shop, a Café and a Terrace.

Size: 71,000 sf
Completion: 2012
Architect: Burt Hill, Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Engineer: Buro Happold Consulting Engineers