Burchfield Penney Art Center by Gwathmey Siegel: New York’s First Green Art Museum
Stephen Del Percio
Buffalo State College’s Burchfield Penney Art Center (”BPAC“) is touting itself as New York State’s first green art museum. The $33 million project- which was designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects- is aiming for LEED Silver certification from USGBC and is participating in NYSERDA’s New York Energy Smart New Construction program.
Climate control, air flow, and energy consumption are obviously key considerations for spaces that preserve art, so the project presented Gwathmey with more green design challenges than a typical LEED project. BPAC will offer 19,000 square feet of galleries and 5000 square feet of educational space, and feature 7500 works of art from 600 artists, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustav Stickley, and Charles Burchfield, the famous American watercolorist for whom the facility will be named.
BPAC is slated to open to the public next Saturday, November 22 and is located at 1300 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo.
