Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Raleigh

This is a project by Brooks + Scarpa Architects + Clearscapes and it is located at Raleigh, NC, United States. It was submitted to Architecture News Plus (ANP) by Brooks + Scarpa Architects. Project's program: Exhibition spaces, archive and art storage, educational center, administrative offices, catering kitchen, sculpture garden. There are twenty two images for Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Raleigh.

: © John Edward Linden

Project details

Project name: Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Raleigh
Location: Raleigh, NC, United States
Program: Exhibition spaces, archive and art storage, educational center, administrative offices, catering kitchen, sculpture garden
Area: Total Square Footage: 22,300 sf (900 sf new entry lobby)
Year: Completion: 2011
More details: Cost: $5,800,000
Client: Contemporary Art Museum
Project by: Brooks + Scarpa Architects + Clearscapes
Team: Project Team: Lawrence Scarpa, Steve Schuster, Mark Buckland, Jon Zellweger, Angela Brooks, Brad Buter, Silke Clemens, Daniel Carper, Jordon Gearhart, Ching Luk, Matthew Majack, Sarah Dickerson, Brandy Thompson, Fred Belledin, Christian Karkow, John Reese, Thomas Sayre, Michael Dosier, Jedidiah Gant
Others: Structural Engineering: Lysaght & Associates • Mechanical Electrical Plumbing Engineering: The Wooten Company • Contractor: CT Wilson Construction

Project images

Designer's statement

Located in Raleigh’s Historic Depot District, this historic 1910 two-story brick structure has emerged into a new incarnation as the home of Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum (CAM). By recycling this important building, CAM preserves an important part of Raleigh’s history and demonstrates its commitment to sustainability and leadership in historic preservation.

Equally important was the addition of the new 900 square foot entry structure. The glass-enclosed space is set beneath a folded-panel roof that extends over the entry’s sculpture garden to form a kind of welcoming front porch. Located on the east side of the existing building, the lobby is a modern re-interpretation of the old loading dock, moving people, goods and art deep into the central core of the main exhibition space. This asymmetrical cross axis was created to juxtapose and complement the symmetry of the old historic building. The two buildings collapse together and fuse into one structure. Old and new become one. The space provokes a kind of indelible wonder while still affording traditional values to the people who visit.

Every feature of the building is multivalent and rich with meaning — performing several roles for functional, formal and experiential effect. This marriage of the old and new, respect for history, while bringing something entirely new and exciting makes this building inseparable from the history of the region.