Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects completed this addition to the historic Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento, California. It opened in October 2010. The steel frame building receives a clean white finish with careful consideration to a North-facing courtyard, wide circulation paths, and daylighting. A great variety of lighting levels separates artwork by type and age. The museum still doesn’t seem to have enough room to display its vast collection.
Seth Babson designed the original Italianate mansion in 1872, which became the Crocker Art Museum in 1885. The richly decorated Victorian interior below connects by balcony to the gallery above. A long skylight is carefully placed above that to give some natural light. From here, the floor to floor circulation is reached nearby at the lobby.
Located downtown just off the Sacramento River, multiple historic mansions of Sacramento’s early hay-day surround the area.
