These were impeccably crafted rooms for conservation. … The wood detailing, the structural expression, the north white monitors, the care of detailing, the proportions, and the volume of the restoration spaces just all added up to a very fine piece of architecture.
— Dan Kaplan, FAIA
Location Houston
Client Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Architect Lake|Flato Architects
Architect of Record Kendall/Heaton Associates
Design Team Lake|Flato: David Lake, FAIA; Graham Beach, AIA; Katie Cavazos, AIA; Megan Toma, AIA; Casey Nelson, AIA. Kendall/Heaton: Laurence Burns, FAIA; Nobuhiko Shoga, AIA; Pedro Martinez
Contractor WS Bellows
Structural Engineer Cardno Haynes Whaley
MEP Engineer Collaborative Engineering Group
Civil Engineer Walter P Moore
Wood Structure Engineering and Fabrication StructureCraft Builders
Project Management Legends Project Development
The new Center for Conservation was designed to house the dispersed MFAH conservation studios under one roof for the first time, comprising one of the largest spaces dedicated to conservation at any institution in the world. Designed to optimize daylight while protecting the artwork inside, four cantilevered studio bays are oriented east/west and topped with shaped roofs and clerestory windows to flood the studios with indirect natural light. The building utilizes the first installation of dowel-laminated timber panels in North America, which were prefabricated and lifted into place, resulting in quicker on-site construction.