Architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi have released the latest set of renderings for the Baker Museum Repair and Expansion Project – the first stage in the renovation of the Artis–Naples campus in Florida.
The work is required to repair damage caused by Hurricane Irma, which flooded two floors of the institution in 2017.
The estimated US$70m (€61.3m, £53.5m) Weiss/Manfredi redesign features storm-resistant stone and metal cladding.
Other updates to the 8.5-acre cultural venue will include an enlarged foyer, new lecture and rehearsal spaces, a rooftop terrace, and a plaza connecting the museum to the nearby 1,477-seat Hayes Hall.
In a statement, co-principals Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi commented: "Our design for the renovation and expansion of The Baker Museum nests a series of interlocking indoor and outdoor spaces that create an open garden courtyard for programmed and spontaneous events.
"It capitalizes on the multidisciplinary nature of Artis—Naples and makes visible the transformative interchanges between all the arts.”
The Baker Museum, which is scheduled for completion in November 2019, is not the first project by Weiss/Manfredi to focus on counteracting Mother Nature’s dangers.
In 2012, the firm were also commissioned by the City of New York to design Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park – a coastal space in the city's Queens district which successfully withstood Hurricane Sandy and was subsequently honoured by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in 2014.
