Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette

Situated adjacent to the original 1967 University Art Museum (a replica of an antebellum plantation home designed by Louisiana architect A. Hays Town), this new museum building serves as a backdrop to the original and defines the edge of a new sculpture garden and plaza. The 33,000-sq.-ft. program includes lobby and public spaces, permanent collection and changing exhibit galleries, museum offices, archival storage and art support spaces.

Conceived of as a tightly wrapped solid, the construction module of the new museum responds to the structural rhythm of the original building. The building's glass façade hovers above visitors entering the museum, reflecting in its surface the existing Hays Town Building and oaks of the surrounding sculpture gardens.

Depending on position and time of day, the glass façade oscillates between opaque and transparent and at night is rendered in a deep blue light through the use of cold cathode tubes located above perforated metal ceilings.

Internally, the building spatially unfolds as the visitor moves through a series of sky-lit spaces punctuated by vertical shafts that penetrate the lobby and atrium gallery. A simple planning organization clearly differentiates art spaces from support spaces. To further assist with visitor orientation, a common public area is provided along the face of the second floor where the expansive glass façade allows uninterrupted views back to the Hays Town Building, plaza fountain and sculpture garden.

Due to the constraints of budget, the project strategically focuses construction dollars to have the greatest impact. Twin glass facades occupy a mere 10-ft. swath along the face of the building at the entry plaza. The remainder of the project utilizes clear and straightforward design and construction.