New Washington art museum aims for LEED Gold designation

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by Shane Henson — April 1, 2013—Washington state residents will soon be able to enjoy the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s (BIMA) collection of artwork from the Puget Sound region of the United States as well as traveling exhibits when its doors are opened in June 2013.

Designed by Coates Design Architects, BIMA (see video) is situated on a prominent corner of Bainbridge Island, Washington, across from the Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry terminal. It is the anchor tenant of the Island Gateway project, a high-end mixed-use development also designed by Coates Design Architects. The building’s striking curved form is designed to open up the plaza between the museum and its adjacent building, drawing visitors toward the entrance.

The south side of the building has a skin that is comprised of 28-foot-tall curved glass, offering a transparent view into the museum. Mounted lights will allow the museum to illuminate at night and act as a beacon that is visible from multiple vantage points. Coates Design Architects created curved wood louvers to wrap around the outside of the glass to provide ample shade for the artwork. The louvers are automatically controlled by a light sensor that triggers them to open and close in response to the quantity of sunlight and the sun’s movement. On the second, uppermost level of the building, three long strip skylights permit natural light into the main gallery space. Curved baffled light shelves float underneath the skylights, diffusing the light to create a pleasant ambiance.

While the Coates Design Architects team designed the building to be a beauty to look at, they also designed it to earn LEED Gold from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

LEED Gold designation is a challenging goal for museums as they are inherently energy-intensive due to such narrow tolerances in regard to humidity and temperature stability, notes Coates Design Architects. In order to achieve this certification, the following features were included in BIMA’s design: geothermal energy, daylighting control, solar panels, use of rapidly renewable and recycled materials, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and a vegetated roof garden.