Nasher Sculpture Center

The main floor of the 55,000-square-foot building is divided into five equal-sized, parallel pavilions.  The side walls are clad in two-inch wide slabs of Italian travertine, entirely concealing the facility’s environmental and security systems and providing a quiet setting for the presentation of sculpture.  The facades at each end are fabricated from clear glass, allowing the pavilions to visually extend into the garden and creating a seamless continuity between the Center’s indoor and outdoor spaces.

A unique barrel-vaulted glass ceiling is suspended above the galleries, atop narrow steel ribs and supported by thin, stainless steel rods.  An innovative cast aluminum sunscreen, specifically designed for this project (patent pending), floats above the roof and allows controlled natural light to filter into the galleries, eliminating the need for artificial illumination much of the time.

The three central pavilions on the main floor serve as galleries for the display of smaller and environmentally-sensitive sculptures, as well as related paintings, prints, and drawings from the Nasher Collection.  The two outer pavilions house a cafe and store, while the lower level will include a smaller gallery for the display of light-sensitive works, a conservation lab, educational and research facilities, and an auditorium that opens to an outdoor terraced garden.

Roof and Structural Details

• 248 extra-white glass panels (228 shaded, 20 unshaded), each 4’ x 16’, 1,200 lbs.
• 60 opaque steel panels, each 4’ x 16’, 1,200 lbs.
• Roof height: 16’ at the wall, 17’ at the center point
• Glass systems by Sunglass (Padua, Italy)
• 912 sunshade pieces, each 4’ x 4’, 150 lbs.
• Sunshade apertures face due north to block direct sunlight
• Aluminum sunscreens by La Societa Sider s.r.l. (Bologna, Italy)
• Roof system: 161 steel roof beams, supported by 322 steel tension rods
• Structural steel by Gipponi s.r.l. (Bergamo, Italy)
• Main staircase: three stairs, each 15,000 lbs. and landing, 20,000 lbs., fabricated from cold rolled steel

Galleries and Interior Amenities

• Full 8” wide oak plank flooring
• Indoor galleries: two ground level gallery bays, entry bay, and lower level gallery, accommodate approximately 80 pieces of sculpture
• Cafe, with indoor/outdoor seating and private dining, is approximately 2,000 ft2
• Museum store is 750 ft2
• Indoor/outdoor auditorium, with 12’ x 32’ retractable wall, seats approximately 225 indoors and 150 outdoors

Stone

• Travertine quarried in southern Tuscany
• Exterior walls clad in 2,522 pieces of
• Etrusco Travertine with water jet finish, each 2’ x 4’, 190lbs.
• Interiors clad in 2,470 pieces of Classic
• Novona Travertine with honed finish, each 2’ x 4’ and 190 lbs.
• Verde Fontaine (green granite) quarried in South Africa
• Terraces covered in 1,439 green granite Verde Fontaine pavers

Lifts

• Truck: platform 15’ x 32’, clearance 13’-6 1/2”, capacity 60,000 lbs., speed 50 fpm
• Freight: platform 8’-11” x 15’-9”, door 8’-0”w x 9’-0”h, capacity 20,000 lbs., speed 117 fpm
• Passenger: platform 6'-9 3/4" x 5'-5 1/2", door 3’-6”w x 7’-0”h, capacity 3,500 lbs., speed 150 fpm
• Dumbwaiter: platform 30”w x 30”d x 48”h, door 3’-6”w x 4’-0”h, capacity 500 lbs.