The Bruce Museum Expansion

The Bruce Museum exhibits a multidisciplinary collection of art, science, and natural history. The original museum occupies a former private residence, which was constructed in the 1850s and has undergone multiple renovations and expansions. The new expansion consists of a renovation to the original residence and the addition of a three-story, 42,000 square foot wing set into the site’s sloping hillside. The new wing features an extensive, glazed facade at the lower level and a precast concrete facade enclosing the volume at the upper levels. A new landscaped courtyard, situated between the addition and existing museum building, highlights the unique geology of the site by exposing Gneiss bedrock.

The above grade building structure is a steel frame, typically consisting of wide flange columns supporting wide flange floor framing and open-web steel joists at roof level. HSS beams are used at the perimeter to meet loading criteria and provide adequate stiffness for the glazed and precast facades, which were delivered as a design assist package with Norwalk Glass and Betons Prefabriques du Lac. The lateral system consists of steel braced frames concealed within partition walls. The below grade structure, founded on rock, consists of cast-in-place concrete retaining walls supported on continuous wall footings and isolated footings beneath the columns.