The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s expansion was unanimously approved by the Bentonville Planning Commission in 2021, and construction started shortly after. The same team behind the original building, Safdie Architects and Buro Happold, designed the expansion, which increases the museum’s size by 50 percent. The interior redesign at Crystal Bridges by Callaghan Horiuchi entails the creation of new galleries, lobbies, gathering spaces, and learning environments within the museum and its expansion.
Renderings show an upgraded courtyard with verdant plantings and trees and a redesigned and expanded main lobby crowned with Safdie’s glass dome. A whimsical, floral art piece by the Haas Brothers will bloom in the room’s center, underneath the circular skylight.
A new cafe will be located within a main circulation path amid the building’s signature ceilings lined with curved slabs of wood and large spans of angled glazing.
The revamped lower lobby will feature new immersive book stacks and furniture for leisure. Here, the rounded book shelves double as seating to form a “campfire,” Callaghan Horiuchi said. Wood from the site was repurposed into furnishings throughout the interiors.
“A central challenge of the project was accommodating a diverse variety of spaces, our interior design strategy seeks to unify the lobbies, circulation areas, and ancillary spaces with the galleries, creating a seamless visitor journey,” said Christian Callaghan in a statement.
Architects note the museum will be reconfigured into seven “signature moments,” designed to leave a lasting impression on visitors; and ten “key areas,” interstitial zones that create a cohesive guest journey.
“Our goal was to design interiors that feel both inspiring and deeply connected to place,” Haruka Horiuchi added. “Throughout the museum, new furniture enhances comfort and accessibility, including repurposed original benches with new cushions and armrests alongside custom pieces crafted from on-site wood slabs, celebrating creativity and craftsmanship.”
Construction has already begun on the interior redesign and will complete alongside the museum expansion in June 2026. It’s happening parallel to other transformative projects underway at Crystal Bridges, including a new nature trail by Studio Bryan Hanes.
Polk Stanley Wilcox and OSD completed the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine at Crystal Bridges last summer, as reported by AN. Marlon Blackwell Architects finished the new multifunctional Heartland Whole Health Institute and a creative parking complex in June.
https://www.archpaper.com/author/danroche/
