Scott Family Amazeum

16. May 2016

Scott Family Amazeum

2015
Bentonville, Arkansas

Client
Scott Family Amazeum

Architect
Haizlip Studio
Memphis, Tennessee

Design Principal/Project Architect
Reb Haizlip, AIA

Project Managers
Mary Haizlip, AIA and Scott Van Der Jagt, AIA

Project Team
Mark Owings, AIA (Crafton Tull – Associated Architect); Josh Jackson, Sam Griffin, Christina Sandor, Thaler Beasley

Associate Architect/Structural Engineer/MEP/FP Engineer
Crafton Tull

Landscape Architect
Crafton Tull  and Howell and Vancuren

Lighting Designer/Interior Designer
Haizlip Studio

Contractor
Nabholz Corporation

Construction Manager
Rob Dodd

Civil Engineering
CEI Engineering Associates, Inc.

Glue-laminated Wood Beams
ArkLam 

Zinc Cladding
Jarden Zinc Projects – Flat Lock Panels

Aluminum Composite Panels
Universe Cladding Solutions

Cedar Siding
Sustain Preserved Wood

Site Area
5.09 acres

Building Area
50,000 sf
Entry

Please provide an overview of the project.
Planned as an adjunct of the acclaimed Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, the Scott Family Amazeum is 50,000 square feet dedicated to family learning experiences.

East Elevation

What are the main ideas and inspirations influencing the design of the building?
The goals of the project were to sensitively graft the museum and five-acre site onto the Crystal Bridges campus at its entrance, and to create a signature work of architecture responding to the community’s explicit aspirations of design excellence.

On a fully exposed site, the visitor entrance and parking lots were internalized while orienting active nature-play gardens and education spaces to face primary public thoroughfares and view corridors. Program spaces were organized in simple plan geometry to let the volume of formal and informal education spaces create a play of three dimensional forms clad in a material palette referencing Crystal Bridges.

Detail

How does the design respond to the unique qualities of the site?
Every façade has its own story to tell, and distinct architectural character, due to the absence of a back door side. On the east along NE J Street, the building has a static but statuesque presence. To the south along Museum Way, building scale is reduced and materials softened to front onto the play gardens; the west rises to receive visitors at the entrance off the parking lot, while the north successfully conceals the building’s utility side.

South Elevation

How did the project change between the initial design stage and the completion of the building?
Haizlip Studio originally envisioned the glulam structure as a composite structure, with both the parallel and perpendicular beams in one plane, instead of stacked. It was an elegant design requiring complex structural connections that were ultimately deemed too expensive during the value-engineering phase. We conceded, except at the main Lobby entrance, where the roof canopy soars to welcome visitors into the museum lobby.

Lobby

What products or materials have contributed to the success of the completed building?
Most notably, the lobby and exhibit hall feature curved glue-laminated timber beams and a structural wood deck that sits on steel columns. The attachment between these two systems highlights the connection between the two materials and is a synthesis of refined engineered utility and the warm emotive aesthetic of wood.

Email interview conducted by John Hill.

Exhibit Hall
Site Plan
Floor Plan
Lobby to Exhibit Hall Section
Lobby Section

Scott Family Amazeum

2015
Bentonville, Arkansas

Client
Scott Family Amazeum

Architect
Haizlip Studio
Memphis, Tennessee

Design Principal/Project Architect
Reb Haizlip, AIA

Project Managers
Mary Haizlip, AIA and Scott Van Der Jagt, AIA

Project Team
Mark Owings, AIA (Crafton Tull – Associated Architect); Josh Jackson, Sam Griffin, Christina Sandor, Thaler Beasley

Associate Architect/Structural Engineer/MEP/FP Engineer
Crafton Tull

Landscape Architect
Crafton Tull  and Howell and Vancuren

Lighting Designer/Interior Designer
Haizlip Studio

Contractor
Nabholz Corporation

Construction Manager
Rob Dodd

Civil Engineering
CEI Engineering Associates, Inc.

Glue-laminated Wood Beams
ArkLam 

Zinc Cladding
Jarden Zinc Projects – Flat Lock Panels

Aluminum Composite Panels
Universe Cladding Solutions

Cedar Siding
Sustain Preserved Wood

Site Area
5.09 acres

Building Area
50,000 sf

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