Brooklyn Museum Education Center

200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY

One of the largest museums in the US — and one of the oldest, first established in 1823 — Brooklyn Museum has, throughout its history, maintained a mission of accessible education for all. Therefore, the Museum prioritized a recent renovation of their Education Department to keep it modernized and functioning efficiently for their 50,000+ annual arts education participants.

The new Toby Devan Lewis Education Center not only offers a brand-new gallery for family-friendly installations and three state-of-the-art studios for creative expression and collaboration, it’s also brightly lit, due to AYON Studio’s efforts in replacing a large portion of the south-facing curtain wall.

Previously a stark, Brutalist-style façade comprised primarily of windowless precast concrete panels, it created a dark and dreary interior environment, with the only natural light coming through minimal skylights. As the Architect for the exterior component, AYON Studio designed a glass and metal-panel curtain wall that fits seamlessly with the remaining portions of the existing wall and brings significantly more daylight into the new Education Center.

Our conscientious design and coordination, down to the custom paint color of the metal panels, achieved necessary approvals from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) at Public Hearing. We also ensured the new glazing was bird-friendly, specifying an inconspicuous yet effective dot pattern to prevent birds from flying into the glass, an especially critical move, given the Museum’s location directly adjacent to Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Prospect Park, which is home to 292 species of birds.

Services
Existing conditions assessment, Design Development, Construction Documents, Bidding and Negotiation, and Construction Administration services for building envelope work

Project Team
Zubatkin Owner Representation, Stephen Yablon Architecture, Samuel Anderson Architects, and Gilbane Building Company     

Completion
2023