National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia

by Jonathan McGaha | April 29, 2012 12:00 am

The
National Museum of American Jewish History in
Philadelphia was established in 1976 and contains the world’s largest collection of items that reflect the American Jewish experience. Completed in November 2010, the new $150 million, fivestory building contains more than 250,000 items cataloging American Jewish history. In addition, the museum features 34,808 square feet of 2-inch, 20/22-gauge Formawall Dimension Series horizontal and vertical wall panels in Gray Velvet and Silversmith with a smooth Sundance Mica coating from CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa. Included in the museum’s design are CENTRIA’s Formavue Windows (FV400) and 199 custom SQUARELINE Medium black metal ceiling tiles constructed of galvanized powder-coated steel from Minneapolis- based pinta acoustic inc. The ceiling tiles were stretched to obtain an open rate of 70 percent, allowing for sprinkler heads to be installed above them. Each tile appears to be floating but is held in place by concealed rows of Z-channel.

The 100,000-square-foot building contains 25,000 square feet of gallery space on threeand- a-half floors, featuring more than 1,200 permanently displayed artifacts. The museum also contains 5,000 square feet of space for changing exhibitions, as well as an Education Center, 200-seat theater, multipurpose event space with the capacity for 600 attendees, café and museum store. In addition to creating a prominent aesthetic, architects chose a building envelope with high thermal and moisture protection properties to help preserve artifacts. They were also looking for products that would help them create an energy-efficient public space, while maintaining the ability to blend with the building’s multiple substrates.

Ennead Architects LLP, New York City, served as the project architect; INTECH Construction Inc., Philadelphia, served as the general contractor; and Keystone Contractors Inc., Pennsauken, N.J., was the dealer and installer of the CENTRIA wall panels and windows.

CENTRIA, www.centria.com/reimaginemetal

pinta acoustic inc., www.pinta-acoustic.com

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/national-museum-of-american-jewish-history-philadelphia/

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