Presented with the challenge of fitting four of the University’s collections, classrooms and galleries into the pre-existing squash court building, architects and members of the advisory committee have worked diligently to create plans for a University Museum.
In order to preserve the integrity and unity of college row, the façade facing High Street as well as the two smaller ends of the building will be kept. The fourth side that will run parallel to the new University Center will be reinvented with a modern, presumably glass, face. The building will essentially be gutted, and entirely new interiors will be constructed in place of the former squash courts.
“I cannot help but be struck by the fact that the building itself is a magnificent and valuable piece of history for not only Wesleyan but for the entire community,” said Alan Rubacha, Project Manager. “Designed by one of this country’s preeminent architects, McKim, Mead and White, this building is truly a treasure. It finishes College Row and takes its place majestically on High Street. I believe that the transformation of this building into the University Museum is the ultimate restoration of an artifact that can be as much a part of the museum experience as the work that will go on inside; it is an interesting analogy. ”
In search of ways to provide the project with more space while keeping the McKim, Mead and White building intact, the architects suggested going underground. The working drawings include a plan to dig out and open up the space below the path between the Museum and the future University Center. According to Dean of Arts and Humanities Lily Milroy, this idea will provide the project with an additional 12,500 square feet to work with.
The basement of the building will include many of the facilities necessary to run a museum and protect collections. In addition to basic utilities, this level will include a woodshop, a loading dock and a matting room.
The plan to excavate below ground further links the construction of the museum to that of the University Center. The proximity of the buildings will be helpful in stimulating the renovation of the Squash Court building while also providing some technical challenges according to Rubacha.
“It is a small site directly in the center of campus and next to a magnificent new building, the University Center,” he said. “The coordination with the University Center is intense now during design and will be more so during construction. They are essentially one building when you look at the plans. We are up to the challenge though!”
The Advisory Committee as well as the architects have faced and worked through many possible obstacles with this project.
“The challenge was to take the program developed by the advisory committee—with space for offices, galleries, classrooms and storage—and make that program fit it into the squash court building,” Milroy said.
The reinterpretation of the Squash Courts building and the ability to fit all of the needed elements has been quite successful.
“It’s a very lean program,” said Carla Antonaccio Professor of Classical Studies and Archaeology Program. “It does everything it needs to do. There is no waste in this building. We are not building or asking for anything we don’t need.”
Security, accessibility and visibility were the main considerations in determining the floor plans of the building, according to members of the Advisory Committee.
“The galleries are located with respect to the overall function of the building as an academic facility,” Antonaccio said. “The decision to put galleries up top makes it possible to close that part of the building and secure it – at night, say—without locking down the entire building. Thus the building can be used for teaching and research with the galleries secured. I think that’s the right priority.”
Current drawings indicate that the ground floor will have a large classroom, a small lecture room, an open lobby and a gift shop. Milroy stressed that once funding comes through, specifics such as the two entranceways will be more finalized.
“It is still under development,” Milroy said. “If we are able to get this thing funded it will undergo some changes. This is really still a concept drawing. The package will basically look like this and the spaces will be like this, but there are still many variables to be decided.”
The upper floors will be centered around an open mezzanine space that recalls the former Orange Judd Hall Museum of Natural History that closed in the 1950s.
The second floor will include several “object study” classrooms that will enable students and professors to use the art and artifacts during lecture.
“I think about how you work with an artifact, and the whole point is to be able to hand a student an object and tell them to study it,” Milroy said. “This way they can move from studying analysis and interpretation to what’s actually on view in the galleries.”
One of the most important aspects of the building’s design includes the use of “open storage” in order to simultaneously house and exhibit the artifacts in a safe environment. Such storage will line most of the walls on the second floor.
Finally, the third floor will be an open and versatile space. The design for this area will allow for the building of temporary walls and a constant rearranging of spaces. There will be a mix of artificial and natural light. The top floor will host exhibits from the permanent collection as well as temporary shows.
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