Menil Drawing Institute

The 30,150sf Menil Drawing Institute is the first freestanding facility in the US created especially for the exhibition, study, conservation and storage of modern and contemporary drawings. The large live oak trees on the site inspired the design of the three square, open-roofed courtyards. Enclosed volumes set between the courtyards provide the main areas for the building’s programs.

A thin, flat roof made of painted steel unifies the indoor and outdoor spaces. The outdoor courtyard structure is composed of welded folded steel plates with a series of internal steel stiffeners. Shallow steel tube trusses frame the interior courtyard. These steel plate and truss structures allow for unsupported free edges along the courtyards and exterior canopies of up to 60ft in length with minimal structural. The below grade structure includes an art storage vault designed to protect the vault contents in the event of a flood. The storage vault includes passive flood doors, and its floor slab, roof, and walls are made of cast-in-place double concrete.